Network hardware devices organized in a wireless mesh network for content distribution to client device having no internet connectivity

ABSTRACT

Wireless mesh network (WMN) architectures of network hardware devices organized in a mesh topology is described. One device communicates, using a first radio, first data with a second device via a first wireless link between the device and the second device. The device communicates, using a second radio, second data with a third device via a second wireless link between the device and the third device. The device communicates, using a third radio, third data with a fourth device via a third wireless link between the device and the fourth device. The device communicates, using a fourth radio, fourth data with a server of a content delivery network (CDN) via a point-to-point wireless link between the device and the server. The device is an only ingress point for content files for a mesh network that includes at least the device, the second device, and the third device.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation application of U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 15/154,327, filed May 13, 2016, which claims thebenefit of U.S. Provisional Application 62/288,396, filed Jan. 28, 2016,the entire contents of both are incorporated by reference herein. Thisapplication is related to U.S. Pat. No. 9,887,708, issued Feb. 6, 2018,and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 15/154,339, filed May 13, 2016.

BACKGROUND

A large and growing population of users is enjoying entertainmentthrough the consumption of digital media items, such as music, movies,images, electronic books, and so on. The users employ various electronicdevices to consume such media items. Among these electronic devices(referred to herein as user devices or user equipment) are electronicbook readers, cellular telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs),portable media players, tablet computers, netbooks, laptops and thelike. These electronic devices wirelessly communicate with acommunications infrastructure to enable the consumption of the digitalmedia items. In order to wirelessly communicate with other devices,these electronic devices include one or more antennas.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The present inventions will be understood more fully from the detaileddescription given below and from the accompanying drawings of variousembodiments of the present invention, which, however, should not betaken to limit the present invention to the specific embodiments, butare for explanation and understanding only.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram of network hardware devices organized in awireless mesh network (WMN) for content distribution to client devicesin an environment of limited connectivity to broadband Internetinfrastructure according to one embodiment.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network hardware device with five radiosoperating concurrently in a WMN according to one embodiment.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of a mesh node with multiple radios accordingto one embodiment.

FIG. 3B is a network diagram of a WMN in which multiple content filesare stored at different locations according to one embodiment.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a mesh network device according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of antenna switching circuitry of a networkhardware device according to one embodiment.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of antenna switching circuitry of a networkhardware device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of antenna switching circuitry of a networkhardware device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 8 illustrates a multi-radio, multi-channel (MRMC) network deviceaccording to one embodiment.

FIG. 9 illustrates a pair of cross polarized dipole antennas within achamber of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to oneembodiment.

FIG. 10 illustrates a pair of vertical polarized dipole antennas withina chamber of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 11 illustrates a pair of cross polarized patch antennas within achamber of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 12 illustrates a pair of coil antennas within an inner chamber ofthe MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to one embodiment.

FIG. 13 illustrates a dual-feed, dual-polarized patch antenna within aninner chamber of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 14A illustrates a wide area network (WAN) antenna, a pair of crosspolarized dipole antennas, and a dual-band WLAN antenna within a chamberof the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to one embodiment.

FIG. 14B illustrates a WAN antenna and a dual-band WLAN antenna within achamber of the MRMC network device according to another embodiment.

FIG. 15 illustrates a top view illustrating locations of the two WANantennas, eight pairs of directional antennas, and two dual-band WLANantennas on a circuit board of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8according to one embodiment.

FIG. 16 illustrates a dual-band WLAN antenna of the MRMC network deviceat another location than within a chamber according to anotherembodiment.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a network hardware device according to oneembodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

A wireless mesh network (WMN) containing multiple mesh network devices,organized in a mesh topology, is described. The mesh network devices inthe WMN cooperate in distribution of content files to client consumptiondevices in an environment of limited connectivity to broadband Internetinfrastructure. The embodiments described herein may be implementedwhere there is the lack, or slow rollout, of suitable broadband Internetinfrastructure in developing nations, for example. These mesh networkscan be used in the interim before broadband Internet infrastructurebecomes widely available in those developing nations.

One system of devices organized in a WMN includes a first networkhardware device having at least one of a point-to-point wireless link toaccess content files over the Internet or a wired connection to accessthe content files stored on a storage device coupled to the firstnetwork hardware device. The network hardware devices are also referredto herein as mesh routers, mesh network devices, mesh nodes, Meshboxes,or Meshbox nodes. Multiple network hardware devices wirelessly areconnected through a network backbone formed by multiple peer-to-peer(P2P) wireless connections (i.e., wireless connections between multiplepairs of the network hardware devices). The multiple network devices arewirelessly connected to one or more client consumption devices bynode-to-client (N2C) wireless connections. The multiple network devicesare wirelessly connected to a mesh network control service (MNCS) deviceby cellular connections. The cellular connections may have lowerbandwidths than the point-to-point wireless link. A second networkhardware device is wirelessly connected to the first network hardwaredevice over a first P2P connection. During operation, the second networkhardware device is wirelessly connected to a first client consumptiondevice over a first N2C connection. The second network hardware devicereceives a first request for a first content file from the first clientconsumption device over the first N2C connection. The second hardwaredevice sends a second request for the first content file to the firstnetwork hardware device over the first P2P connection. The secondhardware device receives the first content file from the first networkhardware device over the first P2P connection and sends the firstcontent file to the first client consumption device over the first N2Cconnection. The content file (or generally a content item or object) maybe any type of format of digital content, including, for example,electronic texts (e.g., eBooks, electronic magazines, digitalnewspapers, etc.), digital audio (e.g., music, audible books, etc.),digital video (e.g., movies, television, short clips, etc.), images(e.g., art, photographs, etc.), or multi-media content. The clientconsumption devices may include any type of content rendering devicessuch as electronic book readers, portable digital assistants, mobilephones, laptop computers, portable media players, tablet computers,cameras, video cameras, netbooks, notebooks, desktop computers, gamingconsoles, DVD players, media centers, and the like.

The embodiments of the mesh network devices may be used to delivercontent, such as video, music, literature, or the like, to users who donot have access to broadband Internet connections because the meshnetwork devices may be deployed in an environment of limitedconnectivity to broadband Internet infrastructure. In some of theembodiments described herein, the mesh network architecture does notinclude “gateway” nodes that are capable of forwarding broadband meshtraffic to the Internet. The mesh network architecture may include alimited number of point-of-presence (POP) devices (nodes) that do haveaccess to the Internet, but the majority of mesh network devices iscapable of forwarding broadband mesh traffic between the mesh networkdevices for delivering content to client consumption devices that wouldotherwise not have broadband connections to the Internet. Alternatively,instead of POP devices having access to broadband Internetinfrastructure, the POP device is coupled to storage devices that storethe available content for the WMN. The WMN may be self-contained in thesense that content lives in, travels through, and is consumed by nodesin the mesh network. In some embodiments, the mesh network architectureincludes a large number of mesh nodes, called Meshbox nodes. From ahardware perspective, the Meshbox node functions much like anenterprise-class router with the added capability of supporting P2Pconnections to form a network backbone of the WMN. From a softwareperspective, the Meshbox nodes provide much of the capability of astandard content distribution network (CDN), but in a localized manner.The WMN can be deployed in a geographical area in which broadbandInternet is limited. The WMN can scale to support a geographic areabased on the number of mesh network devices, and the correspondingdistances for successful communications over WLAN channels by those meshnetwork devices.

Although various embodiments herein are directed to content delivery,such as for the Amazon Instant Video (AIV) service, the WMNs, andcorresponding mesh network devices, can be used as a platform suitablefor delivering high bandwidth content in any application where lowlatency is not critical or access patterns are predictable. Theembodiments described herein are compatible with existing contentdelivery technologies, and may leverage architectural solutions, such asCDN services like the Amazon AWS CloudFront service. Amazon CloudFrontCDN is a global CDN service that integrates with other Amazon Webservices products to distribute content to end users with low latencyand high data transfer speeds. The embodiments described herein can bean extension to this global CDN, but in environments where there islimited broadband Internet infrastructure. The embodiments describedherein may provide users in these environments with a content deliveryexperience equivalent to what the users would receive on a traditionalbroadband Internet connection. The embodiments described herein may beused to optimize deployment for traffic types (e.g. streaming video)that are increasingly becoming a significant percentage of broadbandtraffic and taxing existing infrastructure in a way that is notsustainable.

FIGS. 1-3 are generally directed to network hardware devices, organizedin a wireless mesh network, for content distribution to clientconsumption devices in environments of limited connectivity to broadbandinternet infrastructure. FIGS. 4-7 are generally directed to embodimentsof antenna switching circuitry of a mesh network device. FIGS. 8-17 aregenerally directed to embodiments of antenna structures and reflectivechambers of a multi-radio, multi-channel (MRMC) mesh network device.

FIG. 1 is a network diagram of network hardware devices 102-110,organized in a wireless mesh network (WMN) 100, for content distributionto client devices in an environment of limited connectivity to broadbandInternet infrastructure according to one embodiment. The WMN 100includes multiple network hardware devices 102-110 that connect togetherto transfer digital content through the WMN 100 to be delivered to oneor more client consumption devices connected to the WMN 100. In thedepicted embodiment, the WMN 100 includes a miniature point-of-presence(mini-POP) device 102 (also referred to as mini-POP device), having atleast one of a first wired connection to an attached storage device 103or a point-to-point wireless connection 105 to a CDN device 107 (serverof a CDN or a CDN node) of an Internet Service Provider (ISP). The CDNdevice 107 may be a POP device (also referred to as a POP device), anedge server, a content server device or another device of the CDN. Themini-POP device 102 may be similar to POP devices of a CDN in operation.However, the mini-POP device 102 is called a miniature to differentiateit from a POP device of a CDN given the nature of the mini-POP device102 being a single ingress point to the WMN 100; whereas, the POP deviceof a CDN may be one of many in the CDN.

The point-to-point wireless connection 105 may be established over apoint-to-point wireless link 115 between the mini-POP device 102 and theCDN device 107. Alternatively, the point-to-point wireless connection105 may be established over a directional microwave link between themini-POP device 102 and the CDN device 107. In other embodiments, themini-POP device 102 is a single ingress node of the WMN 100 for thecontent files stored in the WMN 100. Meaning the mini-POP 102 may be theonly node in the WMN 100 having access to the attached storage or acommunication channel to retrieve content files stored outside of theWMN 100. In other embodiments, multiple mini-POP devices may be deployedin the WMN 100, but the number of mini-POP devices should be muchsmaller than a total number of network hardware devices in the WMN 100.Although a point-to-point wireless connection can be used, in otherembodiments, other communication channels may be used. For example, amicrowave communication channel may be used to exchange data. Other longdistance communication channels may be used, such as a fiber-optic link,satellite link, cellular link, or the like. The network hardware devicesof the WMN 100 may not have direct access to the mini-POP device 102,but can use one or more intervening nodes to get content from themini-POP device. The intervening nodes may also cache content that canbe accessed by other nodes. The network hardware devices may alsodetermine a shortest possible route between the requesting node and anode where a particular content file is stored.

The CDN device 107 may be located at a datacenter 119 and may beconnected to the Internet 117. The CDN device 107 may be one of manydevices in the global CDN and may implement the Amazon CloudFronttechnology. The CDN device 107 and the datacenter 119 may be co-locatedwith the equipment of the point-to-point wireless link 155. Thepoint-to-point wireless connection 105 can be considered a broadbandconnection for the WMN 100. In some cases, the mini-POP device 102 doesnot have an Internet connection via the point-to-point wirelessconnection 105 and the content is stored only in the attached storagedevice 103 for a self-contained WMN 100.

The WMN 100 also includes multiple mesh nodes 104-110 (also referred toherein as meshbox nodes and network hardware devices). The mesh nodes104-110 may establish multiple P2P wireless connections 109 between meshnodes 104-110 to form a network backbone. It should be noted that onlysome of the possible P2P wireless connections 109 are shown between themesh nodes 104-110 in FIG. 1. In particular, a first mesh node 104 iswirelessly coupled to the mini-POP device 102 via a first P2P wirelessconnection 109, as well as being wirelessly coupled to a second meshnode 106 via a second P2P wireless connection 109 and a third mesh node108 via a third P2P wireless connection. The mesh nodes 104-110 (and themini-POP device 102) are MRMC mesh network devices. As described herein,the mesh nodes 104-110 do not necessarily have reliable access to theCDN device 107. The mesh nodes 104-110 (and the mini-POP device 102)wirelessly communicate with other nodes via the network backbone via afirst set of WLAN channels reserved for inter-node communications. Themesh nodes 102-110 communicate data with one another via the first setof WLAN channels at a first frequency of approximately 5 GHz (e.g., 5GHz band of the Wi-Fi® network technologies).

Each of the mesh nodes 104-110 (and the mini-POP device 102) alsoincludes multiple node-to-client (N2C) wireless connections 111 towirelessly communicate with one or more client consumption devices via asecond set of WLAN channels reserved for serving content files to clientconsumption devices connected to the WMN 100. In particular, the secondmesh node 106 is wirelessly coupled to a first client consumption device112 (AIV client) via a first N2C wireless connection 111, a secondclient consumption device 114 (AIV client) via a second N2C wirelessconnection 111, and a third client consumption device 116 (e.g., theFire TV device) via a third N2C wireless connection 111. The second node106 wirelessly communicates with the client consumption devices via thesecond set of WLAN channels at a second frequency of approximately 2.4GHz (e.g., 2.4 GHz band of the Wi-Fi® network technologies).

Each of the mesh nodes 104-110 (and the mini-POP device 102) alsoincludes a cellular connection 113 to wirelessly communicate controldata between the respective node and a second device 118 hosting a meshnetwork control service described below. The cellular connection 113 maybe a low bandwidth, high availability connection to the Internet 117provided by a cellular network. The cellular connection 113 may have alower bandwidth than the point-to-point wireless connection 105. Theremay be many uses for this connection including, health monitoring of themesh nodes, collecting network statistics of the mesh nodes, configuringthe mesh nodes, and providing client access to other services. Inparticular, the mesh node 110 connects to a cellular network 121 via thecellular connection 113. The cellular network 121 is coupled to thesecond device 118 via the Internet 117. The second device 118 may be oneof a collection of devices organized as a cloud computing system thatthat hosts one or more services 120. The services 120 may include cloudservices to control setup of the mesh nodes, the content deliveryservice (e.g., AIV origin), as well as other cloud services. The meshnetwork control service can be one or more cloud services. The cloudservices can include a metric collector service, a health and statusservice, a link selection service, a channel selection service, acontent request aggregation service, or the like. There may be APIs foreach of these services. Although this cellular connection may provideaccess to the Internet 117, the amount of traffic that goes through thisconnection should be minimized, since it may be a relatively costlylink. This cellular connection 113 may be used to communicate variouscontrol data to configure the mesh network for content delivery. Inaddition, the cellular connection 113 can provide a global view of thestate of the WMN 100 remotely. Also, the cellular connection 113 may aidin the debugging and optimization of the WMN 100. In other embodiments,other low bandwidth services may also be offered through this link (e.g.email, shopping on Amazon.com, or the like).

Although only four mesh nodes 104-110 are illustrated in FIG. 1, the WMN100 can use many mesh nodes, wireless connected together in a meshnetwork, to move content through the WMN 100. The 5 GHz WLAN channelsare reserved for inter-node communications (i.e., the network backbone).Theoretically, there is no limit to the number of links a given Meshboxnode can have to its neighbor nodes. However, practical considerations,including memory, routing complexity, physical radio resources, and linkbandwidth requirements, may place a limit on the number of linksmaintained to neighboring mesh nodes. Meshbox nodes may function astraditional access points (APs) for devices running AIV client software.The 2.4 GHz WLAN channels are reserved for serving client consumptiondevices. The 2.4 GHz band may be chosen for serving clients becausethere is a wider device adoption and support for this band.Additionally, the bandwidth requirements for serving client consumptiondevices will be lower than that of the network backbone. The number ofclients that each Meshbox node can support depends on a number offactors including memory, bandwidth requirements of the client, incomingbandwidth that the Meshbox node can support, and the like. For example,the Meshbox nodes provide coverage to users who subscribe to the contentdelivery service and consume that service through an AIV client on theclient consumption devices (e.g., a mobile phone, a set top box, atablet, or the like). It should be noted that there is a 1-to-manyrelationship between Meshbox nodes and households (not just betweennodes and clients). This means the service can be provided withoutnecessarily requiring a customer to have a Meshbox node located in theirhouse, as illustrated in FIG. 1. As illustrated, the second mesh node106 services two client consumption devices 112, 114 (e.g., AIV clients)located in a first house, as well as a third client consumption device116 (e.g., the Fire TV client) located in a second house. The Meshboxnodes can be located in various structures, and there can be multipleMeshbox nodes in a single structure.

The WMN 100 may be used to address two main challenges: moving highbandwidth content to users and storing that content in the networkitself. The first challenge may be addressed in hardware through theradio links between mesh nodes and the radio links between mesh nodesand client consumption devices, and in software by the routing protocolsused to decide where to push traffic and link and channel managementused to configure the WMN 100. The second challenge may be addressed byborrowing from the existing content distribution strategy employed bythe content delivery services (e.g., AIV) using caches of content closeto the user. The architecture to support content caching is known as aCDN. An example CDN implementation is the AWS CloudFront service. TheAWS CloudFront service may include several point-of-presence (POP) racksthat are co-located in datacenters that see a lot of customer traffic(for example an ISP), such as illustrated in datacenter 119 in FIG. 1. APOP rack has server devices to handle incoming client requests andstorage devices to cache content for these requests. If the content ispresent in the POP rack, the content is served to the client consumptiondevice from there. If it is not stored in the POP rack, a cache miss istriggered and the content is fetched from the next level of cache,culminating in the “origin,” which is a central repository for allavailable content. In contrast, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the WMN 100includes the mini-POP device 102 that is designed to handle smalleramounts of traffic than a typical POP rack. Architecturally, themini-POP device 102 may be designed as a Meshbox node with storageattached (e.g. external hard disk). The mini-POP device 102 may functionidentically to a POP device with the exception of how cache misses arehandled. Because of the lack of broadband Internet infrastructure, themini-POP device 102 has no traditional Internet connection to the nextlevel of cache. The following describes two different solutions forproviding the next level of cache to the mini-POP device 102.

In one embodiment, the mini-POP device 102 is coupled to an existing CDNdevice 107 via a directional microwave link or other point-to-pointwireless link 115. A directional microwave link is a fairly easy way toget a relatively high bandwidth connection between two points. However,line of sight is required which might not be possible with terrain orbuilding constraints. In another embodiment, the mini-POP device 102 canoperate with a human in the loop (HITL) to update the cache contents.HITL implies that a person will be tasked with manually swapping out thehard drives with a hard drives with the updated content or adding thecontent to the hard drive. This solution may be a relatively highbandwidth but extremely high latency solution and may only be suitableif the use cases allow longer times (e.g., hours) to service a cachemiss.

The WMN 100 may be considered a multi-radio multi-channel (MRMC) meshnetwork. MRMC mesh networks are an evolution of traditional single radioWMNs and a leading contender for combatting the radio resourcecontention that has plagued single radio WMNs and prevents them fromscaling to any significant size. The WMN 100 has multiple devices, eachwith multi-radio multi-channel (MRMC) radios. The multiple radios forP2P connections and N2C connections of the mesh network devices allowthe WMN 100 to be scaled to a significant size, such as 10,000 meshnodes. For example, unlike the conventional solutions that could noteffectively scale, the embodiments described herein can be very largescale, such as a 100×100 grid of nodes with 12-15 hops between nodes toserve content to client consumption devices. The paths to fetch contentfiles may not be a linear path within the mesh network.

The WMN 100 can provide adequate bandwidth, especially node-to-nodebandwidth. For video, content delivery services recommend a minimum of900 Kbps for standard definition content and 3.5 Mbps for highdefinition content. The WMN 100 can provide higher bandwidths than thoserecommended for standard definition and high definition content. Priorsolutions found that for a 10,000-node mesh network covering one squarekilometer, the upper bound on inter-node traffic is 221 kbps. Thefollowing can impact bandwidth: forwarding traffic, wireless contention(MAC/PHY), and routing protocols.

In some embodiments, the WMN 100 can be self-contained as describedherein. The WMN 100 may be self-contained in the sense that contentresides in, travels through, and is consumed by nodes in the meshnetwork without requiring the content to be fetched outside of the WMN100. In other embodiments, the WMN 100 can have mechanisms for contentinjection and distribution. One or more of the services 120 can managethe setup of content injection and distribution. These services (e.g.,labeled mesh network control service) can be hosted by as cloudservices, such as on one or more content delivery service devices. Thesemechanisms can be used for injecting content into the network as newcontent is created or as user viewing preferences change. Although theseinjection mechanisms may not inject the content in real time, thecontent can be injected into the WMN 100 via the point-to-point wirelessconnection 105 or the HITL process at the mini-POP device 102.Availability and impact on cost in terms of storage may be relevantfactors in determining which content is to be injected into the WMN 100and which content is to remain in the WMN 100. A challenge fortraditional mesh network architectures is that this content is highbandwidth (in the case of video) and so the gateway nodes that connectthe mesh to the larger Internet must be also be high bandwidth. However,taking a closer look at the use case reveals that this content, althoughhigh bandwidth, does not need to be low latency. The embodiments of theWMN 100 described herein can provide distribution of content that ishigh bandwidth, but in a manner that does not need low latency.

In some embodiments, prior to consumption by a node having an AIV clientitself or being wirelessly connected to an AIV client executing on aclient consumption device, the content may be pulled close to that node.This may involve either predicting when content will be consumed toproactively move it closer (referred to as caching) or always having itclose (referred to as replication). Content replication is conceptuallystraightforward, but may impact storage requirements and requiresapriori knowledge on the popularity of given titles.

Another consideration is where and how to store content in the WMN 100.The WMN 100 can provide some fault tolerance so that a single mesh nodebecoming unavailable for failure or reboot has minimal impact onavailability of content to other users. This means that a single meshnode is not the sole provider of a piece of content. The WMN 100 can usereliability and availability mechanisms and techniques to determinewhere and how to store content in the WMN 100.

The WMN 100 can be deployed in an unpredictable environment. Radioconditions may not be constant and sudden losses of power may occur. TheWMN 100 is designed to be robust to temporary failures of individualnodes. The WMN 100 can be designed to identify those failures and adaptto these failures once identified. Additionally, the WMN 100 can includemechanisms to provide secure storage of the content that resides withinthe WMN 100 and prevent unauthorized access to that content.

The cloud services 120 of the WMN 100 can include mechanisms to dealwith mesh nodes that become unavailable, adding, removing, or modifyingexisting mesh nodes in the WMN 100. The cloud services 120 may alsoinclude mechanisms for remote health and management. For example, theremay be a remote health interface, a management interface, or both toaccess the mesh nodes for this purpose. The cloud services 120 can alsoinclude mechanisms for securing the WMN 100 and the content that residesin the WMN 100. For example, the cloud services 120 can control deviceaccess, DRM, and node authentication.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a network hardware device 202 with fiveradios operating concurrently in a wireless mesh network 200 accordingto one embodiment. The wireless mesh network 200 includes multiplenetwork hardware devices 202-210. The network hardware device 202 may beconsidered a mesh router that includes four 5 GHz radios for the networkbackbone for multiple connections with other mesh routers, i.e., networkhardware devices 204-210. For example, the network hardware device 204may be located to the north of the network hardware device 202 andconnected over a first 5 GHz connection. The network hardware device 206may be located to the east of the network hardware device 202 andconnected over a second 5 GHz connection. The network hardware device208 may be located to the south of the network hardware device 202 andconnected over a third 5 GHz connection. The network hardware device 210may be located to the west of the network hardware device 202 andconnected over a fourth 5 GHz connection. In other embodiments,additional network hardware devices can be connected to other 5 GHzconnections of the network hardware device 202. It should also be notedthat the network hardware devices 204-210 may also connect to othernetwork hardware devices using its respective radios. It should also benoted that the locations of the network hardware devices 20-210 can bein other locations that north, south, east, and west. For example, thenetwork hardware devices can be located above or below the mesh networkdevice 202, such as on another floor of a building or house.

The network hardware device 202 also includes at least one 2.4 GHzconnection to serve client consumption devices, such as the clientconsumption device 212 connected to the network hardware device 202. Thenetwork hardware device 202 may operate as a mesh router that has fiveradios operating concurrently or simultaneously to transfer mesh networktraffic, as well as service connected client consumption devices. Thismay require that the 5GLL and 5GLH to be operating simultaneously andthe 5GHL and 5GHH to be operating simultaneously, as described in moredetail below. It should be noted that although the depicted embodimentillustrates and describes five mesh nodes, in other embodiments, morethan five mesh nodes may be used in the WMN. It should be noted thatFIG. 2 is a simplification of neighboring mesh network devices for agiven mesh network device. The deployment of forty or more mesh networkdevice may actually be located at various directions than simply north,south, east, and west as illustrated in FIG. 2. Also, it should be notedthat here are a limited number of communication channels available tocommunicate with neighboring mesh nodes in the particular wirelesstechnology, such as the Wi-Fi® 5 GHz band. The embodiments of the meshnetwork devices, such as the directional antennas, can help withisolation between neighboring antennas that cannot be separatedphysically given the limited size the mesh network device.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram of a mesh node 300 with multiple radiosaccording to one embodiment. The mesh node 300 includes a first 5 GHzradio 302, a second 5 GHz radio 304, a third 5 GHz radio 306, a fourth 5GHz radio 308, a 2.4 GHz radio 310, and a cellular radio 312. The first5 GHz radio 302 creates a first P2P wireless connection 303 between themesh node 300 and another mesh node (not illustrated) in a WMN. Thesecond 5 GHz radio 304 creates a second P2P wireless connection 305between the mesh node 300 and another mesh node (not illustrated) in theWMN. The third 5 GHz radio 306 creates a third P2P wireless connection307 between the mesh node 300 and another mesh node (not illustrated) inthe WMN. The fourth 5 GHz radio 308 creates a fourth P2P wirelessconnection 309 between the mesh node 300 and another mesh node (notillustrated) in the WMN. The 2.4 GHz radio 310 creates a N2C wirelessconnection 311 between the mesh node 300 and a client consumption device(not illustrated) in the WMN. The cellular radio 312 creates a cellularconnection between the mesh node 300 and a device in a cellular network(not illustrated). In other embodiments, more than one 2.4 GHz radiosmay be used for more N2C wireless connections. Alternatively, differentnumber of 5 GHz radios may be used for more or less P2P wirelessconnections with other mesh nodes. In other embodiments, multiplecellular radios may be used to create multiple cellular connections.

In another embodiment, a system of devices can be organized in a WMN.The system may include a single ingress node for ingress of contentfiles into the wireless mesh network. In one embodiment, the singleingress node is a mini-POP device that has attached storage device(s).The single ingress node may optionally include a point-to-point wirelessconnection, such as a microwave communication channel to a node of theCDN. The single ingress node may include a point-to-point wireless linkto the Internet (e.g., a server device of the CDN) to access contentfiles over the Internet. Alternatively to, or in addition to thepoint-to-point wireless link, the single ingress node may include awired connection to a storage device to access the content files storedon the storage device. Multiple network hardware devices are wirelesslyconnected through a network backbone formed by multiple P2P wirelessconnections. These P2P wireless connections are wireless connectionsbetween different pairs of the network hardware devices. The P2Pwireless connections may be a first set of WLAN connections that operateat a first frequency of approximately 5.0 GHz. The multiple networkhardware devices may be wirelessly connected to one or more clientconsumption devices by one or more N2C wireless connections. Also, themultiple network hardware devices may be wirelessly connected to a meshnetwork control services (MNCS) device by cellular connections. Eachnetwork hardware device includes a cellular connection to a MNCS servicehosted by a cloud computing system. The cellular connections may havelower bandwidths than the point-to-point wireless link.

The system includes a first network hardware device wirelessly connectedto a first client consumption device by a first node-to-client (N2C)wireless connection and a second network hardware device wirelesslyconnected to the single ingress node. The first network hardware devicecan wirelessly connect to a first client consumption device over a firstN2C connection. The N2C wireless connection may be one of a second setof one or more WLAN connections that operate at a second frequency ofapproximately 2.4 GHz. During operation, the first network hardwaredevice may receive a first request for a first content file from thefirst client consumption device over the first N2C connection. The firstnetwork device sends a second request for the first content file to thesecond network hardware device through the network backbone via a firstset of zero or more intervening network hardware devices between thefirst network hardware device and the second network hardware device.The first network device receives the first content file from the firstnetwork hardware device through the network backbone via the first setof zero or more intervening network hardware devices and sends the firstcontent file to the first client consumption device over the first N2Cconnection. In a further embodiment, the first network hardware deviceincludes another radio to wirelessly connect to a MNCS device by acellular connection to exchange control data.

In a further embodiment, the first network hardware device is further toreceive a third request for a second content file from a second clientconsumption device connected to the first network hardware device over asecond N2C connection between the first network hardware device and thesecond client consumption device. The first network hardware devicesends a fourth request for the second content file stored at a thirdnetwork hardware device through the network backbone via a second set ofzero or more intervening network hardware devices between the firstnetwork hardware device and the third network hardware device. The firstnetwork hardware device receives the second content file from the thirdnetwork hardware device through the network backbone via the second setof zero or more intervening network hardware devices. The first networkhardware device sends the second content file to the second clientconsumption device over the second N2C connection.

In one embodiment, the zero or more intervening network hardware devicesof the first set are not the same as the zero or more interveningnetwork hardware devices of the second set. In some embodiments, a pathbetween the first network hardware device and the second networkhardware device could include zero or more hops of intervening networkhardware devices. In some cases, the path may include up to 12-15 hopswithin a mesh network of 100×100 network hardware devices deployed inthe WMN. In some embodiments, a number of network hardware devices inthe WMN is greater than fifty. The WMN may include hundreds, thousands,and even tens of thousands of network hardware devices.

In a further embodiment, the first network hardware device receive thefourth request for the second content file from a fourth networkhardware device through the network backbone via a third set of zero ormore intervening network hardware devices between the first networkhardware device and the fourth network hardware device. The firstnetwork hardware device sends the second content file to the fourthnetwork hardware device through the network backbone via the third setof zero or more intervening network hardware devices.

In some embodiments, the first network hardware device determineswhether the first content file is stored in memory of the first networkhardware device. The memory of the first network hardware device may bevolatile memory, non-volatile memory, or a combination of both. When thefirst content file is not stored in the memory or the storage of thefirst network hardware device, the first network hardware devicegenerates and sends the second request to a first network hardwaredevice of the first set. Intervening network hardware devices can makesimilar determinations to locate the first content file in the WMN. Inthe event that the first content file is not stored in the secondnetwork hardware device or any intervening nodes, the second networkhardware device can request the first content file from the mini-POPdevice, as described herein. When the mini-POP device does not store thefirst content file, the mini-POP can take action to obtain the firstcontent file, such as requesting the first content file from a CDN overa point-to-point link. Alternatively, the human in the loop process canbe initiated as described herein.

In a further embodiment, the second network hardware device receives thesecond request for the first content file and retrieves the firstcontent file from the single ingress node when the first content file isnot previously stored at the second network hardware device. The secondnetwork hardware device sends a response to the second request with thefirst content file retrieved from the single ingress node. The secondnetwork hardware device may store a copy of the first content file inmemory of the second network hardware device for a time period.

In another embodiment, the single ingress node receives a request for acontent file from one of the multiple network hardware devices over aP2P wireless connection. The request originates from a requestingconsumption device. It should be noted that a video client can beinstalled on the client consumption device, on the network hardwaredevice, or both. The single ingress node determines whether the contentfile is stored in a storage device coupled to the single ingress node.The single ingress node generates and sends a first notification to therequesting one of the network hardware devices over the P2P wirelessconnection when the content file is not stored in the storage device.The first notification includes information to indicate an estimateddelay for the content file to be available for delivery. The singleingress node generates and sends a second notification to an operator ofthe first network hardware device. The second notification includesinformation to indicate that the content file has been requested by therequesting client consumption device. In this embodiment, thenotifications can be pushed to the appropriate recipients. In anotherembodiment, an operator can request which content files had beenrequested in the WMN and not serviced. This can initiate the ingress ofthe content file into the WMN, even if with a longer delay.

In some embodiments, the mini-POP device is coupled to a storage deviceto store the content files as original content files for the wirelessmesh network. A point-to-point wireless link may be established betweenthe mini-POP device and a CDN device. In another embodiment, themini-POP device is coupled to a node of a content delivery network (CDN)via a microwave communication channel.

In a further embodiment, the second network hardware device canwirelessly connect to a third network hardware device over a second P2Pconnection. During operation, the third network hardware device mayreceive a third request for a second content file from a second clientconsumption device over a second N2C connection between the thirdnetwork hardware device and the second client consumption device. Thethird network hardware device sends a fourth request for the secondcontent file to the second network hardware device over the second P2Pconnection. The third network hardware device receives the secondcontent file from the second network hardware device over the second P2Pconnection and sends the second content file to the second clientconsumption device over the second N2C connection.

In another embodiment, the first network hardware device receives thefourth request for the second content file from the third networkhardware device. The second network hardware device determines whetherthe second content file is stored in memory of the second networkhardware device. The second network hardware device sends a fifthrequest to the first network hardware device over the first P2Pconnection and receive the second content file over the first P2Pconnection from the first network hardware device when the secondcontent file is not stored in the memory of the second network hardwaredevice. The second network hardware device sends the second content fileto the third network hardware device over the second P2P connection.

In another embodiment, the second network hardware device may wirelesslyconnect to a third network hardware device over a second P2P connection.During operation, the third network hardware device may receive a thirdrequest for the first content file from a second client consumptiondevice over a second N2C connection between the third network hardwaredevice and the second client consumption device. The third networkhardware device sends a fourth request for the first content file to thesecond network hardware device over the second P2P connection. The thirdnetwork hardware device receives the first content file from the firstnetwork hardware device over the second P2P connection and sends thefirst content file to the second client consumption device over thesecond N2C connection.

In another embodiment, the first network hardware device receives arequest for a content file from one of the network hardware devices overone of the P2P wireless connections. The request is from a requestingclient consumption device connected to one of the multiple networkhardware devices. The first network hardware device determines whetherthe content file is stored in the storage device. The first networkhardware device generates and sends a first notification to the one ofthe network hardware devices over the one of the P2P wirelessconnections when the content file is not stored in the storage device.The first notification may include information to indicate an estimateddelay for the content file to be available for delivery. The firstnetwork hardware device generates and sends a second notification to anoperator of the first network hardware device. The second notificationmay include information to indicate that the content file has beenrequested by the requesting client consumption device.

In a further embodiment, the P2P wireless connections are WLANconnections that operate in a first frequency range and the N2Cconnections are WLAN connections that operate in a second frequencyrange. In another embodiment, the P2P wireless connections operate at afirst frequency of approximately 5.0 GHz and the N2C connections operateat a second frequency of approximately 2.4 GHz.

In some embodiments, at least one of the network hardware devices is amini-POP) node and a point-to-point wireless link is established betweenthe mini-POP device and a POP device of an ISP. In one embodiment, thepoint-to-point wireless link is a microwave link (e.g., directionalmicrowave link) between the mini-POP device and the CDN device. Inanother embodiment, the mini-POP device stores an index of the contentfiles store in attached storage devices.

In some embodiments, a mesh network architecture includes multiple meshnodes organized in a self-contained mesh network. The self-containedmesh network may be self-contained in the sense that content resides in,travels through, and is consumed by nodes in the mesh network withoutrequiring the content to be fetched outside of the mesh network. Each ofthe mesh nodes includes a first radio for inter-node communications withthe other nodes on multiple P2P channels, a second radio forcommunications with client consumption devices on N2C channels. The meshnetwork architecture also includes a mini-POP device including a radiofor inter-connection communications with at least one of the mesh nodeson a P2P channel. The mesh network architecture also includes a storagedevice coupled to the mini-POP, the storage device to store contentfiles for distribution to a requesting client consumption device. Themini-POP device may be the only ingress point for content files for theself-contained mesh network. The storage devices of the mini-POP devicemay be internal drives, external drives, or both. During operation, afirst node of the mesh nodes includes a first radio to wirelesslyconnect to a requesting client consumption device via a first N2Cchannel to receive a first request for a content file directly from therequesting client consumption device via a first N2C channel between thefirst node and the requesting client consumption device 1. A secondradio of the first node sends a second request for the content file to asecond node via a first set of zero or more intervening nodes betweenthe first node and the second node to locate the content file within theself-contained mesh network. The second radio receives the content filefrom the second node in response to the request. The first radio sendsthe content file to the requesting client consumption device via thefirst N2C channel. The first node determines a location of the contentfile within the self-contained mesh network and sends a second requestfor the content file via a second P2P channel to at least one of themini-POP or a second node, the second request to initiate delivery ofthe content file to the requesting client consumption device over asecond path between the location of the content file and the requestingclient consumption device.

In another embodiment, the first node stores a copy of the content filein a storage device at the first node. The first node receives a thirdrequest for the content file directly from a second client consumptiondevice via a second N2C channel between the first node and the secondclient consumption device. The first node sends the copy of the contentfile to the second client consumption device via the second N2C channelin response to the third request.

In a further embodiment, the first node receives the content file viathe second P2P channel in response to the second request and sends thecontent file to the requesting client consumption device via the firstN2C channel or the first P2P channel in response to the first request.In some embodiments, the second path and the first path are the same.

In a further embodiment, the first node includes a third radio tocommunicate control data over a cellular connection between the firstnode and a mesh network control service (MNCS) device.

In one embodiment, the second radio can operate with 2×2 MIMO withmaximum 40 MHz aggregation. This may result in per radio throughput ofnot more than 300 Mbps in 5 GHz and 150 Mbps in 2.4 GHz. Even with 5radios (4×5 GHz and 1×2.4), the peak physical layer throughput will notneed to be more than 1.4 Gbps. A scaling factor of 1.4 may be used toarrive at a CPU frequency requirement. This implies the total processingclock speed in the CPU should not be less than 1.96 GHz (1.4×1.4=1.96GHz). For example, the Indian ISM band has a requirement of 23 dBm EIRP.Since the WMN 100 needs to function under conditions where the meshrouters communicate with each other between homes, the propagation lossthrough multiple walls and over distances between homes, the link budgetdoes not support sensitivity requirements for 802.11ac data rates. Theper-node throughput may be limited to 300 Mbps per link—peak PHY rate.

In another embodiment, a system includes a POP device having access tocontent files via at least one of data storage coupled to the POP deviceor a first point-to-point connection to a first device of an ISP. Thesystem also includes multiple mesh nodes, organized in a WMN, and atleast one of the mesh nodes is wirelessly coupled to the POP device. TheWMN is a mesh topology in which the multiple mesh nodes cooperate indistribution of the content files to client consumption devices that donot have access to reliable access to the server device of the CDN or inan environment of limited connectivity to broadband infrastructure. Afirst node of the multiple mesh nodes is a multi-radio, multi-channel(MRMC) device that includes multiple P2P connections to form parts of anetwork backbone in which the first node wireless connects to other meshnodes via a first set of WLAN channels reserved for inter-nodecommunication. The first node also includes one or more N2C connectionsto wireless connect to one or more of the client consumption devicesconnected to the WMN via a second set of WLAN channels reserved forserving the content files to the client consumption devices. The firstnode may also include a cellular connection to wireless connect to asecond device of the CDN. The second device may be part of a cloudcomputing system and may host a mesh network control service asdescribed herein. It should be noted that the first point-to-pointconnection is higher bandwidth than the cellular connection.

FIG. 3B is a network diagram of a WMN 300 in which multiple contentfiles are stored at different locations according to one embodiment. Asdescribed herein, the WMN 300 described herein can operate like a CDN instoring and caching digital content for delivery of the content toclient devices. As depicted, the WMN 300 includes a mini-POP device 302and multiple mesh nodes 304. The mini-POP device 302 is coupled to oneor more data storage devices 306. The storage device(s) 306 store copiesof multiple content files, including a first content file 312, a secondcontent file 314, and an Nth content file 316, where N is some positiveinteger value. These content files 312, 314, 316 can be considered theoriginal content files in the WMN 300. These content files 312, 314, 316can be different types of content as well, such as video, audio,literature, or the like. For example, the first content file 312 may bea movie, including video and audio content, and the second content file314 may be an e-book. Copies of the content files can be stored atvarious locations in the WMN 300. For example, the mesh node 304(a)stores a copy of the first content file 312 and a copy of the secondcontent file 314. The mesh node 304(a) may store other content files aswell. The mesh node 304(b) can request the second content file 314 fromany one of the mesh nodes 304 storing the second content file 314, suchas the mesh node 304(c) or the mesh node 304(b). In the event that noneof the mesh nodes 304 have cached the second content file 314, the meshnode 304(b) can request the second content file 314 from the mini-POPdevice 302 via one or more of the mesh nodes 304. Similarly, the meshnode 304(c) can request the first content file 312 from the mesh nodesthat have cached the first content file 312, such as the mesh node304(a). In some cases, the WMN 300 may include hundreds or thousands ofmesh nodes 304 that can store copies of different ones of the contentfiles 312-316. The caching of the content files within the WMN 300 canbe done according to caching schemes, such as those used in CDNs.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a mesh network device 400 according to oneembodiment. The mesh network device 400 may be one of many mesh networkdevices organized in a WMN (e.g., WMN 100). The mesh network device 400is one of the nodes in a mesh topology in which the mesh network device400 cooperates with other mesh network devices in distribution ofcontent files to client consumption devices in an environment of limitedconnectivity to broadband Internet infrastructure, as described herein.That is, the client consumption devices do not have Internetconnectivity. The mesh network device 400 may be the mini-POP device 102of FIG. 1. Alternatively, the mesh network device 400 may be any one ofthe mesh network devices 104-110 of FIG. 1. In another embodiment, themesh network device 400 is any one of the network hardware devices202-210 of FIG. 2. In another embodiment, the mesh network device 400 isthe mesh node 300 of FIG. 3A. In another embodiment, the mesh networkdevice 400 is the mesh node 304 of FIG. 3B.

The mesh network device 400 includes a system on chip (SoC) 402 toprocess data signals in connection with communicating with other meshnetwork devices and client consumption devices in the WMN. The SoC 402includes a processing element (e.g., a processor core, a centralprocessing unit, or multiple cores) that processes the data signals andcontrols the radios to communicate with other devices in the WMN. In oneembodiment, the SoC 402 is a dual core SoC, such as the ARM A15 1.5 GHzwith hardware network acceleration. The SoC 402 may include memory andstorage, such as 2 GB DDR RAM and 64 GB eMMC coupled to the SoC 402 viaexternal HDD interfaces (e.g., SATA, USB3, or the like). The SoC 402 mayinclude multiple RF interfaces, such as a first interface to the firstRF radio 404 (e.g., HSCI interface for cellular radio (3G)), a secondinterface to the WLAN 2.4 GHz radio 406, a third interface to the WLAN2.4 GHz radio 408, and multiple interfaces to the WLAN 5 GHz radios,such as on a PCIe bus. Alternatively, the SoC 402 includes as manydigital interfaces for as many radios there are in the mesh networkdevice 400. In one embodiment, the SoC 402 is the IPQ8064 Qualcomm SoCor the IPQ4029 Qualcomm SoC. Alternatively, other types of SoCs may beused, such as the Annapurna SoC, or the like. Alternatively, the meshnetwork device 400 may include an application processor that is notnecessarily considered to be a SoC.

The mesh network device 400 may also include memory and storage. Forexample, the mesh network device 400 may include SSD 64 GB 428, 8 GBFlash 430, and 2 GB 432. The memory and storage may be coupled to theSoC 402 via one or more interfaces, such as USB 3.0, SATA, or SDinterfaces. The mesh network device 400 may also include a singleEthernet port 444 that is an ingress port for Internet Protocol (IP)connection. The Ethernet port 444 is connected to the Ethernet PHY 442,which is connected to the SoC 402. The Ethernet port 444 can be used toservice the mesh network device 400. Although the Ethernet port 444could provide wired connections to client devices, the primary purposeof the Ethernet port 444 is not to connect to client devices, since the2.4 GHz connections are used to connect to clients in the WMN. The meshnetwork device 400 may also include one or more debug ports 446, whichare coupled to the SoC 402. The memory and storage may be used to cachecontent, as well as store software, firmware or other data for the meshnetwork device 400.

The mesh network device 400 may also include a power management andcharging system 434. The power management and charging system 434 can beconnected to a power supply 436 (e.g., a 240V outlet, a 120V outlet, orthe like). The power management and charging system 434 can also connectto a battery 438. The battery 438 can provide power in the event ofpower loss. The power management and charging system 434 can beconfigured to send a SOS message on power outage and backup systemstate. For example, the WLAN radios can be powered down, but thecellular radio can be powered by the battery 438 to send the SOSmessage. The battery 438 can provide limited operations by the meshnetwork device 400, such as for 10 minutes before the entire system iscompletely powered down. In some cases, power outage will likely affecta geographic area in which the mesh network device 400 is deployed(e.g., power outage that is a neighborhood wide phenomenon). The bestoption may be to power down the mesh network device 400 and let thecloud service (e.g., back end service) know of the outage in the WMN.The power management and charging system 434 may provide a 15V powersupply up to 21 watts to the SoC 402. Alternatively, the mesh networkdevice 400 may include more or less components to operate the multipleantennas as described herein.

The mesh network device 400 includes a first radio frequency (RF) radio404 coupled between the SoC 402 and a cellular antenna 418. The first RFradio 404 supports cellular connectivity using the cellular antenna 418.In one embodiment, the first RF radio 404 is a wireless wide areanetwork (WWAN) radio and the cellular antenna 418 is a WWAN antenna.WWAN is a form of wireless network that is larger in size than a WLANand uses different wireless technologies. The wireless network candeliver date in the form of telephone calls, web pages, texts, messages,streaming content, or the like. The WWAN radio may use mobiletelecommunication cellular network technologies, such as LTE, WiMAX(also called wireless metropolitan area network (WMAN), UTMS, CDMA2000,GSM, cellular digital packet data (CDPD), Mobitex, or the like, totransfer data.

In one embodiment, the cellular antenna 418 may include a structure thatincludes a primary WAN antenna and a secondary WAN antenna. The first RFradio 404 may be a wireless wide area network (WWAN) radio and thecellular antenna 418 is a WWAN antenna. The first RF radio 404 mayinclude a modem to cause the primary WAN antenna, the secondary WANantenna, or both to radiate electromagnetic energy in the 900 MHz bandand 1800 MHz band for the 2G specification, radiate electromagneticenergy in the B1 band and the B8 band for the 3G specification, andradiate electromagnetic energy for the B40 band. The modem may supportCat3 band, 40 TD-LTE, UMTS: Band 1, Band 8, and GSM: 900/1800. The modemmay or may not support CDMA. The cellular modem may be used fordiagnostics, network management, down time media caching, meta datadownload, or the like. Alternatively, the first RF radio 404 may supportother bands, as well as other cellular technologies. The mesh networkdevice 400 may include a GPS antenna and corresponding GPS radio totrack the location of the mesh network device 400, such as moves betweenhomes. However, the mesh network device 400 is intended to be locatedinside a structure, the GPS antenna and radio may not be used in someembodiments.

The mesh network device 400 includes a first set of wireless local areanetwork (WLAN) radios 406, 408 coupled between the SoC 402 and dual-bandomni-directional antennas 420. A first WLAN radio 406 may support WLANconnectivity in a first frequency range using one of the dual-bandomni-directional antennas 420. A second WLAN radio 408 may support WLANconnectivity in a second frequency range using one of the dual-bandomni-directional antennas 420. The dual-band omni-directional antennas420 may be two omnidirectional antennas for 2.4 GHz. The directionalantennas 422 may be eight sector directional antennas for 5 GHz with twoantennas at orthogonal polarizations (horizontal/vertical) in eachsector. These can be setup with 45 degree 3 dB beam width with 11 dBantenna gain. The dual-band omni-directional antennas 420 and thedirectional antennas 422 can be implemented as a fully switchableantenna architecture controlled by micro controller 426. For example,each 5 GHz radio can choose any 2 sectors (for 2 2×2 MU-MIMO streams).

The mesh network device 400 includes a second set of WLAN radios 410-416coupled between the SoC 402 and antenna switching circuitry 424. Thesecond set of WLAN radios 410-416 support WLAN connectivity in thesecond frequency range using a set of directional antennas 422. Thesecond set of WLAN radios 410-416 is operable to communicate with theother mesh network devices of the WMN. The antenna switching circuitry424 is coupled to a micro controller 426. The micro controller 426controls the antenna switching circuitry 424 to select differentcombinations of antennas for wireless communications between the meshnetwork device 400 and the other mesh network devices, the clientconsumption devices, or both. For example, the micro controller 426 canselect different combinations of the set of directional antennas 422. Inone embodiment, the SoC 402 runs a mesh selection algorithm to decidewhich communication path to use for any particular communication andinstructs, or otherwise commands, the micro controller 426 to select theappropriate communication path between a selected radio and a selectedantenna. Alternatively, the micro controller 426 can receive indicationsfrom the SoC 402 of which radio is to be operating and the microcontroller 426 can select an appropriate communication path between aradio (or a channel of the radio) and an appropriate antenna. Theantenna switching circuitry 424 is described in more detail below withrespect to FIGS. 5-7.

In another embodiment, a filter switch bank is coupled between theantenna switching circuitry 424 and the second set of WLAN radios410-416. In another embodiment, the filter switch bank can beimplemented within the antenna switching circuitry 424.

In the depicted embodiment, the first set of WLAN radios include a 2×22.4 GHz MIMO radio 406 and a first 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 408. The secondset of WLAN radios includes a second 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 410 (“5GLL”),a third 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 412 (“5GLH”), a fourth 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio414 (“5GHL”), and a fifth 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 416 (“5GHH”). Thedual-band omni-directional antennas 420 may include a firstomni-directional antenna and a second omni-directional antenna (notindividually illustrated in FIG. 4). The set of directional antennas 422comprises: a first horizontal orientation antenna; a first verticalorientation antenna; a second horizontal orientation antenna; a secondvertical orientation antenna; a third horizontal orientation antenna; athird vertical orientation antenna; a fourth horizontal orientationantenna; a fourth vertical orientation antenna; a fifth horizontalorientation antenna; a fifth vertical orientation antenna; a sixthhorizontal orientation antenna; a sixth vertical orientation antenna; aseventh horizontal orientation antenna; a seventh vertical orientationantenna; an eighth horizontal orientation antenna; an eighth verticalorientation antenna; a ninth vertical orientation antenna (upper antennadescribed herein); a ninth horizontal antenna (upper antenna); an tenthhorizontal antenna (bottom antenna); and a tenth vertical antenna(bottom antenna). These last four antennas may also be RHC orientationand LHC orientation antennas as described herein.

In one embodiment, the mesh network device 400 can handle antennaswitching in a static manner. The SoC 402 can perform soundingoperations with the WLAN radios to determine a switch configuration.Switching is not done on a per packet basis or at a packet level. Thestatic switch configuration can be evaluated a few times a day by theSoC 402. The SoC 402 can include the intelligence for switching decisionbased on neighbor sounding operations done by the SoC 402. The microcontroller 426 can be used to program the antenna switching circuitry424 (e.g., switch matrix) since the mesh network device 400 may be basedon CSMA-CA, not TDMA. Deciding where the data will be coming into themesh network device 400 is not known prior to receipt, so dynamicswitching may not add much benefit. It should also be noted that networkbackbone issues, such as one of the mesh network devices becomingunavailable, may trigger another neighbor sounding process to determinea new switch configuration. Once the neighbor sounding process iscompleted, the mesh network device 400 can adapt a beam patter to beessentially fixed since the mesh network devices are not intended tomove once situated.

In one embodiment, the antenna switching circuitry 424 includes multiplediplexers and switches to connect different combinations of antennas tothe multiple radios. FIGS. 5-7 illustrate three different architecturesfor the antenna switching circuitry 424. The following diagrams use thefollowing notations for reference:

ANT Hx→Horizontal orientation device side antenna

ANT Vx→Vertical orientation device side antenna

ANT VB→Vertical orientation device bottom side antenna

ANT HB→Horizontal orientation device bottom side antenna

ANT VU→Vertical orientation device top side antenna

ANT HU→Horizontal orientation device top side antenna

ANT0→Omni directional antenna

ANT1→Omni directional antenna

One configuration for the antenna switching circuitry 424 is a switchmatrix architecture. In this architecture, there are six 2×2 WLAN radios(also referred to as the Wi-Fi® radios). Five radios are 5 GHz band andone radio is a 2.4 GHz radio. A switch matrix is implemented to allowthe connection of each and any of the four 2×2 radios to any of theVx/Hx MIMO antennas. Based on the switch matrix configuration and basedon the routing algorithms input, each 2×2 radio can connect to aspecific antenna pair in a specific direction. Each 2×2 radio canoperate using a dedicated and unique WLAN frequency channel concurrentlyor simultaneously. In this architecture, two of the radios (5 GHz radioand 2.4 GHz radio) may have fixed connections to the omni-directionalantennas (Ant0 and Ant1). These two radios may also have access to allthe WLAN 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band channels. In another embodiment, thisarchitecture also may also have 4G/3G and 2G WAN radio to providecellular connectivity to the mesh network device 400.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of antenna switching circuitry 501 of anetwork hardware device 500 according to one embodiment. The networkhardware device 500 includes the SoC 402 as described above. The SoC 402includes a first interface 550 coupled to a first RF radio 511, a firstPCIe interface 551 coupled to a first PCIe switch 552, a second PCIeinterface 553 coupled to a second PCIe switch 554, and a third PCIeinterface 555 coupled to a third PCIe switch 556. The first PCIe switch552 is coupled to a first WLAN radio 512 and a second WLAN radio 514.The second PCIe switch 554 is coupled to a third WLAN radio 516 and afourth WLAN radio 518. The third PCIe switch 556 is coupled to a fifthWLAN radio 520 and a sixth WLAN radio 522. Each of the PCIe switches512-522 includes a first WLAN channel and a second WLAN channel coupledto terminals of the antenna switching circuitry 501. The first RF radio511 is coupled to a first WAN antenna 502 over a first WAN channel andcoupled to a second WAN antenna 504 over a second WAN channel. Theantenna switching circuitry 501 is coupled to the various antennas 510.Although the depicted embodiment uses PCIe interfaces and PCIe switches,in other embodiments, other types of interfaces and switches can beused. The first WLAN radio 512 is a 2×2 2.4 GHz MIMO radio and thesecond WLAN radios 514-522 are 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radios. In otherembodiments, the SoC 402 may include a same number of interfaces as anumber of radios coupled to the SoC 402. In these cases, PCIe switcheswould not be needed. For example, in other embodiment, the SoC 402includes 7 interfaces for the seven radios. When six radios are used,the SoC 402 may include six digital interfaces. Alternatively, otherinterconnects can be used to connect the radios to the SoC 402 or othertype of application processor.

In the depicted embodiment, the antenna switching circuitry 501includes: a first diplexer 528 coupled to a first antenna 506, a firstchannel of the first 2×2 2.4 GHz MIMO radio 512, and a first channel ofthe 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 514; a second diplexer 530 coupled to thesecond antenna 508, a second channel of the first 2×2 2.4 GHz MIMO radio512, and a second channel of the 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 514; and a switchmatrix. Although the first antenna 528 and the second antenna 530 areillustrated inside the antenna switching circuitry 501, these antennasare not part of the antenna switching circuitry 501. The microcontroller 426 controls the switches of the switch matrix to selectdifferent combinations of the antennas to be coupled to the differentradios, as described herein. The micro controller 426 can select theswitches according to an antenna selection algorithm. The switch matrixincludes: a first set 526 of ten single-pole, four-throw (SP4T) switcheseach coupled to one of the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth,seventh, eighth, ninth, and tenth horizontal antennas; a second set 524of four single-pole, ten-throw (SP10T) switches, each of the fourterminals of each of the ten SP10T switches of the first set 526 iscoupled to one of the ten terminals of the four SP10T switches of thesecond set 524; a third set 546 of ten SP4T switches each coupled to oneof the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, eighth,ninth, and tenth vertical antennas; and a fourth set 544 of SP switches,each of the four terminals of each of the ten SP10T switches of thethird set 546 is coupled to one of the ten terminals of the four SP10Tswitches of the fourth set 544.

In a further embodiment, the antenna switching circuitry 501 includesadditional switches 532, 534, 536 and 538 to provide multiple paths withdifferent band pass filters tuned to specific sub-ranges of frequencieswithin the frequency band. The antenna switching circuit 501 may includeadditional band pass filters that are tuned to specific sub-ranges offrequencies. These band pass filters may be statically disposed on theconductive path between the radios and the switches 524, 544. In otherembodiment, as depicted, the antenna switching circuitry 501 includeslow pass filters, high pass filters, band pass filters, or anycombination thereof, in the communication paths between the radios andthe antennas. For example, high pass filters are disposed on thecommunication paths between the first RF radio 511 and the first WANantenna 502 and the second WAN antenna 504. The high pass filters can beused to filter out frequencies higher than a certain frequency, such asthe 5 GHz frequency of the second WLAN radios 514-522 that are 2×2 5 GHzMIMO radios. Low pass filters can be used to filter out frequencieslower than a certain frequency, such as the 2.4 GHz frequencies of thefirst RF radio 511, or the frequencies of the first WLAN radio 512 thatis a 2×2 2.4 GHz MIMO radio. Band pass filters can also be used tofilter out unwanted frequencies outside of a range of frequencies forthe particular communication channel.

Another configuration for the antenna switching circuitry 424 includes aswitch bank of band pass filters (BPFs). In this architecture, there aresix 2×2 WLAN radios in this architecture. Five radios are 5 GHz band andone radio is a 2.4 GHz radio. A switch band pass filters bank isimplemented to provide channels selectivity in the WLAN 5 GHz band. Fourof the 5 GHz radios may have a dedicated and fixed connection to theswitch band pass filter bank. Each switch bank band pass filters elementis connected to the antennas using a series of switches that allows theconnection of the switch bank to any of the Vx/Hx antennas. Theadvantages of this architecture may be a reduction in complexity of theswitching matrix and may give each radio the flexibility of choosing anyWLAN channel based on the routing algorithms, instead of fixing eachradio to a dedicated channel in the switching matrix architecture. Oneof the 5 GHz radios may have a fixed connection to any one of theomni-directional antennas (Ant0 and Ant1) through a switch bank filters.The 2.4 GHz antenna may have access to all the WLAN 2.4 GHz bandchannels. The architecture may also have a 4G/3G and 2G WAN radio (e.g.,first RF radio 511) to provide cellular connectivity to the mesh networkdevice.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of antenna switching circuitry 601 of anetwork hardware device 600 according to another embodiment. The networkhardware device 600 is similar to the network hardware device 500 asnoted by similar reference labels. In the depicted embodiment, theantenna switching circuitry 601 includes: a first diplexer 628 coupledto the first antenna 506 and a first channel of the first 2×2 2.4 GHzMIMO radio 512; a second diplexer 630 coupled to the second antenna 508and a second channel of the first 2×2 2.4 GHz MIMO radio 514; and aswitch bank of band pass filters (BPFs). The micro controller 426controls the switches of the switch bank to select differentcombinations of the antennas to be coupled to the different radios, asdescribed herein. The micro controller 426 can select the switchesaccording to an antenna selection algorithm. The switch bank includes:ten sets 631 of BPFs, each set having four BPFs; ten pairs 633 of −SP4Tswitches. Each of the ten sets 631 of four BPFs are coupled between eachpair of the ten pairs 633 of SP4T switches. Each of the ten pairs 633 ofSP4T switches is coupled to a channel of the second 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio516, the third 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 518, the fourth 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio520, or the fifth 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 522. A first of the ten pairs 633of SP4T switches is coupled to a first channel of the first 2×2 5 GHzMIMO radio 522 and the first diplexer 528. A second of the ten pairs 633of SP4T switches is coupled to a second channel of the first 2×2 5 GHzMIMO radio 522 and the second diplexer 630. A first SP4T switch iscoupled to a third of the ten pairs 633 of SP4T switches, the firsthorizontal antenna, and the second horizontal antenna. A second SP4Tswitch is coupled to a fourth of the ten pairs 633 of SP4T switches, thefirst vertical antenna, and the second vertical antenna. A third SP4Tswitch is coupled to a fifth of the ten pairs 633 of SP4T switches, thethird horizontal antenna, and the fourth horizontal antenna. A fourthSP4T switch is coupled to a sixth of the ten pairs 633 of SP4T switches,the third vertical antenna, and fourth second vertical antenna. A fifthSP4T switch is coupled to a seventh of the ten pairs 633 of SP4Tswitches, the fifth horizontal antenna, and the sixth horizontalantenna. A sixth SP4T switch is coupled to an eighth of the ten pairs633 of SP4T switches, the fifth vertical antenna, and sixth secondvertical antenna. A seventh SP4T switch is coupled to a ninth of the tenpairs 633 of SP4T switches, the seventh horizontal antenna, and theeighth horizontal antenna. A eighth SP4T switch is coupled to a tenth ofthe ten pairs 633 of SP4T switches, the seventh vertical antenna, andeighth second vertical antenna. A ninth SP4T switch is coupled to thefirst SP4T switch, the third SP4T switch, the fifth SP4T switch, theseventh SP4T switch, and the ninth horizontal antenna or the ninthvertical antenna. A tenth SP4T switch is coupled to the second SP4Tswitch, the fourth SP4T switch, the sixth SP4T switch, the eighth SP4Tswitch, and the tenth horizontal antenna or the tenth vertical antenna.In other embodiments, the last four antennas are not horizontal andvertical antennas, but can be other polarization types, such as righthand circular (RHC) polarization and left hand circular (LHC)polarization.

Another configuration for the antenna switching circuitry 424 is a highisolation architecture. In this architecture, there are six 2×2 WLANradios. Five radios are 5 GHz band radios and one radio is a 2.4 GHzradio. This architecture provides high isolation between the radiosantennas. This may remove the need of filters or switched filter bankfrom the circuit board design to provide high isolation. In thisarchitecture, each radio can be connected to any Vx/Hx antennas using aseries of switches that are controlled by the routing algorithm. Basedon the switches configuration and based on the routing algorithms input,each 2×2 radio may connect to a specific antenna pair in a specificdirection. Each 2×2 radio may operate using a dedicated and unique WLANfrequency channel concurrently or simultaneously. In this architecture,two of the radios (5 GHz radio and 2.4 GHz radio) may have fixedconnections to the omni-directional antennas (Ant0 and Ant1). These tworadios may have access to all the WLAN 2.4 GHz and 5 GHz band channels.This architecture may also have a 4G/3G and 2G WAN radio (e.g., first RFradio 511) to provide cellular connectivity to the mesh network device.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram of antenna switching circuitry 701 of anetwork hardware device 700 according to another embodiment. The networkhardware device 700 is similar to the network hardware device 500 asnoted by similar reference labels. In the depicted embodiment, theantenna switching circuitry 701 includes: a first diplexer 728 coupledto a first antenna 506, a first channel of the first 2×2 2.4 GHz MIMOradio 512, and a first channel of the first 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 512; asecond diplexer 630 coupled to a second antenna 508, a second channel ofthe first 2×2 2.4 GHz MIMO radio 514, and a second channel of the first2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 514; a first single-pole, multiple-throw (SPnT)switch 724 coupled to a first channel of the second 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio516, the first horizontal antenna, and the second horizontal antenna,where N is an integer value greater than two; a second SPnT switch 734coupled to a second channel of the second 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 516, thefirst vertical antenna, and the second vertical antenna; a third SPnTswitch 736 coupled to a first channel of the third 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio518, the third horizontal antenna, and the fourth horizontal antenna; afourth SPnT switch 738 coupled to a second channel of the third 2×2 5GHz MIMO radio 518, the third vertical antenna, and fourth secondvertical antenna; a fifth SPnT switch 740 coupled to a first channel ofthe fourth 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 520, the fifth horizontal antenna, andthe sixth horizontal antenna; a sixth SPnT switch 742 coupled to asecond channel of the fourth 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio 520, the fifthvertical antenna, and sixth second vertical antenna; a seventh SPnTswitch 744 coupled to a first channel of the fifth 2×2 5 GHz MIMO radio522, the seventh horizontal antenna, and the eighth horizontal antenna;an eighth SPnT switch 746 coupled to a second channel of the fifth 2×2 5GHz MIMO radio 522, the seventh vertical antenna, and eighth secondvertical antenna; a first SPDT switch 752 coupled to the ninth antennaand the tenth antenna; a ninth SPnT switch 748 coupled to the first SPDTswitch 732, the first SPnT switch 752, the third SPnT switch 736, thefifth SPnT switch 740, and the seventh SPnT switch 744; a second SPDTswitch 754 coupled to the eleventh antenna and the twelfth antenna; anda tenth SPnT switch 750 coupled to the second SPDT switch 734, thesecond SPnT switch 754, the fourth SPnT switch 738, the sixth SPnTswitch 742, and the eighth SPnT switch 746. The n is an integer valuegreater than two. The micro controller 426 controls the switches 732-746to select different combinations of the antennas to be coupled to thedifferent radios, as described herein. The micro controller 426 canselect the switches according to an antenna selection algorithm.

In another embodiment, a mesh network device includes an applicationprocessor, a micro controller, and antenna switching circuitry. Theapplication processor processes data signals in connection withcommunicating with other mesh network devices and client consumptiondevices in a WMN. The mesh network device also includes seven radios: afirst radio coupled to a first interface of the application processorand coupled to two cellular antennas; a second radio coupled to a secondinterface of the application processor, the second radio being coupledto a first dual-band omni-directional antenna; a third radio coupled tothe second interface, the third radio being coupled to a seconddual-band omni-directional antenna; a fourth radio coupled to a thirdinterface of the application processor; a fifth radio coupled to thethird interface; a sixth radio coupled to a fourth interface of theapplication processor; and a seventh radio coupled to the fourthinterface. The antenna switching circuitry includes a first set of fourswitches (e.g., 732, 736, 740, 744), each of the four switches in thefirst set being coupled to a first channel of the fourth, fifth, sixth,and seventh radios, respectively, and to one pair of a first set of fourpairs of directional antennas, respectively. The antenna switchingcircuitry also includes a second set of four switches (e.g., 734, 738,742, 746), each of the four switches of the second set being coupled toa second channel of the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh radios,respectively, and to one pair of a second set of four pairs ofdirectional antennas, respectively. The antenna switching circuitry alsoincludes a third switch (e.g., 748) coupled to each of the first set offour switches and one of a third set of two directional antennas and afourth switch (e.g., 750) coupled to each of the second set of fourswitches and one of a fourth set of two directional antennas. The microcontroller controls the antenna switching circuitry to connect differentcombinations of the first set, the second set, the third set, and thefourth set of directional antennas to different combinations of thefourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh radios for wireless communicationsbetween the mesh network device and the other mesh network devices inthe WMN. In another embodiment, micro controller controls the antennaswitching circuitry to couple any of the directional antennas to any ofthe fourth radio, the fifth radio, the sixth radio, or the seventhradio. In a further embodiment, the antenna switching circuitry mayinclude a fifth switch (e.g., 752) coupled between the third switch andthe third set of two directional antennas and a sixth switch (e.g., 754)coupled between the fourth switch and the fourth set of two directionalantennas.

In a further embodiment, the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh radiosare WLAN radios that operate at the 5 GHz band, the second radio is aWLAN radio that operates at the 2.4 GHz band, and the third radio is aWLAN radio that operates at the 5 GHz band. The first radio can operateat one or more cellular frequency bands as described herein.

In a further embodiment, the antenna switching circuitry may include afirst diplexer (e.g., 728) coupled to the first dual-bandomni-directional antenna, a first channel of the second radio, and afirst channel of the third radio. The antenna switching circuitry mayalso include a second diplexer (e.g., 730) coupled to the seconddual-band omni-directional antenna, a second channel of the secondradio, and a second channel of the third radio.

In a further embodiment, the mesh network device includes threeinterconnect switches: a first interconnect switch (e.g., PCIe switch)coupled the second interface of the application processor and coupled tothe second radio and the third radio; a second interconnect switch(e.g., PCIe switch) coupled the third interface of the applicationprocessor and coupled to the fourth radio and the fifth radio; and athird interconnect switch (e.g., PCIe switch) coupled the fourthinterface of the application processor and coupled to the sixth radioand the seventh radio.

FIG. 8 illustrates a multi-radio, multi-channel (MRMC) network device800 according to one embodiment. The MRMC network 800 includes a metalhousing 802 that has eight sectors 804-818. Each of the eight sectors804-818 has a truncated pyramid structure with a top portion and fourside portions that define a recessed region of the respective truncatedpyramid structure. The truncated pyramid structures are disposed ontheir sides in a horizontal plane and arranged in a circular arraignmentwith two adjacent sectors sharing at least one common side portion. Thetruncated pyramid structure may form an octagonal prism for the metalhousing 802. The top portion and the four side portions may be metalsurfaces or have portions of metal. Also, the outer top surfaces of theeight sectors form an inner chamber 811 in a center of the metal housing802. In particular, the sector 808 may be considered a reflectivechamber that includes an top portion 830, a first side portion 832, asecond side portion 834, a third side portion 836, and a fourth sideportion 838. The other sectors 804, 806, 810, 812, 814, 816, and 818 mayhave similar metal portions or surfaces as reflective chambers as thesector 808. Similarly, the inner chamber 811 can be consideredreflective. For example, the circuit board 811 includes a metal groundplane that is a reflective surface for the top antenna, as well as forthe bottom antenna. The opposite sides of the metal surfaces of thereflective chambers also are reflective for the top and bottom antennas.

In the depicted embodiment, the MRMC network 800 includes a circuitboard 820 disposed within the metal housing 802. In particular, thecircuit board 820 may include multiple portions, such as a first portiondisposed in the inner chamber 811. There may be a second portion of thecircuit board 820 disposed within a first sector 804 and a third portionof the circuit board 820 disposed within a second sector 806. Theseportions may extend to an outer side of the metal housing 802. Thecircuit board 820 may also include smaller portions that are disposed inthe other sectors 808-818 to accommodate some of the antenna pairsdisposed within the respective sectors.

In the depicted embodiment, the MRMC network 800 includes eight pairs ofantennas 840, each pair being disposed in one of the eight sectors804-818. Each pair includes a horizontal orientation antenna and avertical orientation antenna. The eight pairs of antennas 840 may bedisposed on, above, or below corresponding sections of the circuit board820. In one embodiment, each of the eight pairs of antennas 840 is apair of cross polarized dipole antennas, a pair of vertical polarizeddipole antennas, or a pair of cross polarized patch antennas, asdescribed below with respect to FIGS. 9-11.

In some embodiments, the MRMC network 800 includes a top antennadisposed on a top side of the circuit board 820 within the inner chamber811 and a bottom antenna disposed on a bottom side of the circuit board820 within the inner chamber 811. In the depicted embodiment, topantennas 842, 844 are disposed above the circuit board 820, and bottomantennas 846, 848 are disposed below the circuit board 820. The topantennas 842, 844 and the bottom antennas 846, 848 are helix coilantennas. In other embodiments, the top and bottom antennas may be othertypes of antennas, such as patch antennas, monopoles, dipoles, loops,folded monopoles, or the like.

In the depicted embodiment, the eight pairs of antennas 840, the topantennas 842, 844, and the bottom antennas 846, 848 are design toradiate electromagnetic energy in a first frequency range, such as the 5GHz band of the Wi-Fi® technologies. The metal of the top portion andthe four side portions of each of the eight sectors operate as areflector chamber. For example, the metal of the top portion 830 and thefour side portions 832-838 of the sector 808 operate as a reflectorchamber for the pair of antennas 840 within the respective chamber. Thereflective chamber reflects the electromagnetic energy, radiated by thehorizontal orientation antenna, in a first directional radiation patternwith high gain in a direction along a center axis of the sector 808(e.g., a truncated pyramid structure) and reflects the electromagneticenergy, radiated by the vertical orientation antenna, in a seconddirectional radiation pattern with high gain in the direction along thecenter axis of the sector 808. The gain the first direction isconsidered higher than the gain in other directions, such as an oppositedirection than the first direction. The number of metal surfaces mayimpact the gain in the first direction. As few as one metal surface canbe used to reflect the electromagnetic energy. However, if more thanthree metal surfaces, the gain in the first direction can be increased.

In the depicted embodiment, the MRMC network 800 includes a firstomni-directional antenna 850 (e.g., dual-band WLAN antenna) disposed onthe top side of the second portion of the circuit board 820 disposedwithin the sector 804 (i.e., a first of the eight sectors). In a furtherembodiment, a second omni-directional antenna 852 is disposed on the topside of the third portion of the circuit board 820 disposed within thesector 806 (i.e., a second of the eight sectors). The firstomni-directional antenna 850 and the second omni-directional antenna 852are designed to radiate electromagnetic energy in the first frequencyrange (e.g., 5 GHz band) and a second frequency range (e.g., 2.4 GHzband).

In the depicted embodiment, the MRMC network 800 includes a firstcellular antenna 854 (e.g., WWAN antenna) disposed on the top side ofthe second portion of the circuit board 820 disposed within the sector804 (i.e., a first of the eight sectors). In a further embodiment, asecond cellular antenna 856 is disposed on the top side of the thirdportion of the circuit board 820 disposed within the sector 806 (i.e., asecond of the eight sectors). The first cellular antenna 854 and thesecond cellular antenna 856 are designed to radiate electromagneticenergy in a third frequency range. For examples, the third frequencyrange may be the 900 MHz band for the 2G specification, the 1800 MHzband for the 2G specification, the B1 band for the 3G specification, theB8 band for the 3G specification, or the B40 band for the LTEspecification.

In the depicted embodiment, the MRMC network 800 includes a first RFradio (not illustrated in FIG. 8) disposed on the circuit board 820 andcoupled to the first cellular antenna 854 and the second cellularantenna 856. The first RF radio causes the first cellular antenna 854,the second cellular antenna 856, or both to radiate the electromagneticenergy in the third frequency range. In a further embodiment, multipleRF radios (not illustrated in FIG. 8) are disposed on the circuit board820 and coupled to the eight pairs of antennas 840, the top antennas842, 844, and the bottom antennas 846, 848. The RF radios causedifferent combinations of one or more of the eight pairs of antennas840, the top antennas 842, 844, and the bottom antennas 846, 848 toradiate the electromagnetic energy in the first frequency range (e.g.,2.4 GHz band). In a further embodiment, a second RF radio (notillustrated in FIG. 8) is disposed on the circuit board 820 and coupledto the first omni-directional antenna 850 and the secondomni-directional antenna 852. The second RF radio cause the firstomni-directional antenna 850, the second omni-directional antenna 852,or both to radiate the electromagnetic energy in the first frequencyrange (e.g., 5 GHz band).

In the depicted embodiment, the MRMC network 800 includes a third RFradio (not illustrated in FIG. 8) disposed on the circuit board 820 andcoupled to the first omni-directional antenna 850 and the secondomni-directional antenna 852. The second RF radio cause the firstomni-directional antenna 850, the second omni-directional antenna 852,or both to radiate the electromagnetic energy in the second frequencyrange (e.g., 2.4 GHz band).

FIG. 9 illustrates a pair of cross polarized dipole antennas 902, 904within a chamber 900 of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according toone embodiment. The pair of polarized dipole antennas includes avertical orientation dipole antenna 902 and a horizontal orientationdipole antenna 904. Within the chamber 900, there may be a section 906of the circuit board 820 upon which there are RF feeds disposed to feedthe pair of cross polarized dipole antennas 902, 904. A balun 908 may becoupled to the pair of cross polarized dipole antennas 902, 904. A balunis an electrical device that converts between a balanced signal and anunbalanced signal. When current is applied to the vertical orientationdipole antenna 902, the vertical orientation dipole antenna 902 radiateselectromagnetic energy in a vertical orientation. The chamber 900, beinga reflective chamber as described above, reflects the electromagneticenergy, radiated by the vertical orientation dipole antenna 902, to forma first directional radiation pattern with high gain in a directionalong a center axis of the chamber 900 (i.e., a truncated pyramidstructure). When current is applied to the horizontal orientation dipoleantenna 904, the horizontal orientation dipole antenna 904 radiateselectromagnetic energy in a horizontal orientation. The chamber 900,being a reflective chamber as described above, reflects theelectromagnetic energy, radiated by the horizontal orientation dipoleantenna 904, to form a second directional radiation pattern with highgain in the direction along the center axis of the chamber 900 (i.e., atruncated pyramid structure). The other seven chambers, as illustratedin FIG. 8, may also include a pair of cross polarized dipole antennas902, 904.

FIG. 10 illustrates a pair of vertical polarized dipole antennas 1002,1004 within a chamber 1000 of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8according to another embodiment. The pair of vertical polarized dipoleantennas includes a first vertical orientation dipole antenna 1002 and asecond vertical orientation dipole antenna 1004. Within the chamber1000, there may be a first section 1006 of the circuit board 820 upon anRF feed is disposed to feed the first vertical orientation dipoleantennas 1002. A first balun 1008 may be coupled to the first verticalorientation dipole antennas 1002. Also, within the chamber 1000, theremay be a second section 1010 of the circuit board 820 upon an RF feed isdisposed to feed the second vertical polarized dipole antenna 1004. Asecond balun 1012 may be coupled to the second vertical dipole antennas1004. When current is applied to the first vertical orientation dipoleantenna 1002, the vertical orientation dipole antenna 1002 radiateselectromagnetic energy in a vertical orientation. The chamber 1000,being a reflective chamber as described above, reflects theelectromagnetic energy, radiated by the vertical orientation dipoleantenna 1002, to form a first directional radiation pattern with highgain in a direction along a center axis of the chamber 1000. Whencurrent is applied to the second vertical orientation dipole antenna1004, the second vertical orientation dipole antenna 1004 radiateselectromagnetic energy in a vertical orientation. The chamber 1000,being a reflective chamber as described above, reflects theelectromagnetic energy, radiated by the second orientation dipoleantenna 1004, to form a second directional radiation pattern with highgain in the direction along the center axis of the chamber 1000 (i.e., atruncated pyramid structure). The other seven chambers, as illustratedin FIG. 8, may also include a pair of vertical polarized dipole antennas1002, 1004. It should be noted that side portions may be slanted inwardto an opposing side, such as illustrated in the reflective chamber 900of FIG. 9. However, in other embodiments, some of the inner sides maynot be slanted, but could be parallel to the opposing side, such asillustrated in the top and bottom surfaces of the reflective chamber1000 of FIG. 10. In this embodiment, the two side portions are stillslanted. Alternatively, other geometries of the walls can be used.

FIG. 11 illustrates a pair of cross polarized patch antennas 1102, 1104within a chamber of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according toanother embodiment. The pair of cross polarized patch antennas includesa first orientation patch antenna 1102 and a second orientation patchantenna 1104. Within the chamber 1100, a first RF feed is disposed tofeed a first side of a patch, forming a first orientation patch antenna1102. Also, within the chamber 1100, a second RF feed is disposed tofeed a second side of the path, forming a second orientation pathantenna 1104. The first orientation patch antenna 1102 may be a first45-degree slant polarization and the second orientation patch antenna1104 may be a second 45-degree slant polarization that is orthogonal tothe first 45-degree slant polarization. When current is applied to thefirst orientation patch antenna 1102, the first orientation patchantenna 1102 radiates electromagnetic energy in a first 45-degreeorientation. The chamber 1100, being a reflective chamber as describedabove, reflects the electromagnetic energy, radiated by the firstorientation patch antenna 1102, to form a first directional radiationpattern with high gain in a direction along a center axis of the chamber10100. When current is applied to the second orientation patch antenna1104, the second orientation patch antenna 1104 radiates electromagneticenergy in a second 45-degree orientation. The chamber 1100, being areflective chamber as described above, reflects the electromagneticenergy, radiated by the second orientation patch antenna 1104, to form asecond directional radiation pattern with high gain in the directionalong the center axis of the chamber 1100 (i.e., a truncated pyramidstructure). The other seven chambers, as illustrated in FIG. 8, may alsoinclude a pair of cross polarized patch antennas 1102, 1104.

FIG. 12 illustrates a pair of coil antennas 1202, 1204 within an innerchamber 1200 of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to oneembodiment. The inner chamber 1200 is similar to the inner chamber 811described above. In some embodiments, a portion of the inner chamber1200 that is above the circuit board 820 may be considered an upperchamber, and the portion of the inner chamber 1200 that is below thecircuit board 820 may be considered a lower chamber. In this upperchamber, the MRMC network device includes a first coil antenna 1202having a right hand circular polarization (RHCP) and a second coilantenna 1204 having a left hand circular polarization (LHCP). A similarpair of antennas with RHCP and LHCP can be disposed on a second side ofthe circuit board 820 in the lower chamber. When current is applied tothe first coil antenna 1202, the first coil antenna 1202 radiateselectromagnetic energy in a RHCP. The chamber 1200 may or may not bereflective like the chambers in FIGS. 9-11. When the chamber 1200 isreflective, the electromagnetic energy, radiated by the first coilantenna 1202, forms a first directional radiation pattern with high gainin the direction along the center axis of the chamber 1200 (i.e.,opening within an octagonal prism). When current is applied to thesecond coil antenna 1204, the second coil antenna 1204 radiateselectromagnetic energy in a LHCP. When the chamber 1200 is reflective,the electromagnetic energy, radiated by the second coil antenna 1204,forms a second directional radiation pattern with high gain in thedirection along the center axis of the chamber 1200 (i.e., openingwithin an octagonal prism). The lower chamber, as illustrated in FIG. 8,may also include a pair of coil antennas 1202, 1204.

FIG. 13 illustrates a dual-feed, dual-polarized patch antenna 1302within an inner chamber 811 of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8according to another embodiment. In this upper chamber, the MRMC networkdevice includes dual-feed, dual-polarized patch antenna 1302. A similardual-feed dual-polarized patch antenna can be disposed on a second sideof the circuit board 820 in the lower chamber. When current is appliedto a first feed of the dual-feed, dual-polarized patch 1302, thedual-feed, dual-polarized patch 1302 radiates electromagnetic energy ina first polarization. The chamber 1300 may or may not be reflective likethe chambers in FIGS. 9-11. When the chamber 1300 is reflective, theelectromagnetic energy, radiated by the dual-feed, dual-polarized patch1302, forms a first directional radiation pattern with high gain in thedirection along the center axis of the chamber 1300 (i.e., openingwithin an octagonal prism). When current is applied to a second feed ofthe dual-feed, dual-polarized patch 1302, the dual-feed, dual-polarizedpatch 1302 radiates electromagnetic energy in a second polarization.When the chamber 1300 is reflective, the electromagnetic energy,radiated by the dual-feed, dual-polarized patch 1302, forms a seconddirectional radiation pattern with high gain in the direction along thecenter axis of the chamber 1300 (i.e., opening within an octagonalprism). The lower chamber, as illustrated in FIG. 8, may also include adual-feed, dual-polarized patch 1302.

FIG. 14A illustrates a WAN antenna 1402, a pair of cross polarizeddipole antennas 1404, and a dual-band WLAN antenna 1406 within a chamber1400 of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8 according to one embodiment.Within the chamber 1400, a WAN antenna 1402 can be disposed on a section1401 of the circuit board 820 of FIG. 8. A WAN feed 1403 is disposed onan outer edge of the section 1401 at the opening of the chamber 1400.The WAN feed 1403 is coupled to a monopole element 1405. A parasiticground element 1407 is coupled to ground and parasitically coupled tothe monopole element 1405. In this embodiment, the WAN antenna 1402,including the monopole element 1405 and the parasitic ground element1407 are disposed above the section 1401 of the circuit board. Inanother embodiment, the WAN antenna 1402 can be disposed below on asecond side of the circuit board. A similar WAN antenna can be disposedin a chamber on an opposite side, as illustrated in FIG. 8. In otherembodiments, other WAN antennas can be disposed in other chambers of theMRMC network device. When current is applied to the WAN antenna 1402,the WAN antenna 1402 radiates electromagnetic energy. Because the WANantenna 1402 is disposed on an outer edge of the section 1401 of thecircuit board, the WAN antenna 1402 can be considered anomni-directional antenna. The WAN antenna 1402 can be designed tooperate in WAN frequency bands, as described herein. In otherembodiments, the WAN antenna 1402 can be other antenna types, such as aloop antenna, a yagi antenna, a monopole antenna, a PIFA antenna, or thelike.

In the depicted embodiment, the chamber 1400 also includes the pair ofcross polarized dipole antennas 1404, including the vertical orientationdipole antenna 902 and the horizontal orientation dipole antenna 904,such as described with respect to FIG. 9. In other embodiments, othertypes of directional antennas may be disposed in the locations of theantenna 1404, such as those illustrated and described with respect toFIGS. 10-11. In other embodiments, other types of antennas can be usedas the directional antennas with different polarizations, such ashelical coil antennas, loop antennas, yagi antennas, monopole antennas,PIFA antennas, or the like.

In the depicted embodiment, the chamber 1400 also includes a dual-bandWLAN antenna 1406 disposed on the section 1401 of the circuit board 820of FIG. 8. A WLAN feed 1409 is disposed on the outer edge of the section1401 at the opening of the chamber 1400. The WLAN feed 1409 is coupledto a monopole element 1411. A parasitic ground element 1413 is coupledto ground and parasitically coupled to the monopole element 1411. Inthis embodiment, the WLAN antenna 1406, including the monopole element1411 and the parasitic ground element 1413 are disposed above thesection 1401 of the circuit board. In another embodiment, the WLANantenna 1406 can be disposed below on a second side of the circuitboard. A similar WLAN antenna can be disposed in a chamber on anopposite side, as illustrated in FIG. 8. In other embodiments, otherdual-band WLAN antennas can be disposed in other chambers of the MRMCnetwork device. For example, the dual-band WLAN antenna can be othertypes of antennas, such as helical coil antennas, loop antennas, yagiantennas, monopole antennas, PIFA antennas, or the like.

When current is applied to the WLAN antenna 1406, the WLAN antenna 1406radiates electromagnetic energy. Because the WLAN antenna 1406 isdisposed on an outer edge of the section 1401 of the circuit board, theWLAN antenna 1406 can be considered an omni-directional antenna. TheWLAN antenna 1406 can be designed to operate in WLAN frequency bands,such as the 2.4 GHz band and the 5 GHz band as described herein.

FIG. 14B illustrates a WAN antenna 1452 and a dual-band WLAN antenna1454 within a chamber 1450 of a MRMC network device according to anotherembodiment. Within the chamber 1450, a WAN antenna 1452 can be disposedon a section 1451 of the circuit board 820 of FIG. 8. A WAN feed 1453 isdisposed on an edge of the section 1451. The WAN feed 1453 is coupled toa monopole element 1455. A parasitic ground element 1457 is coupled toground at another edge of the section 4151 at a recessed region of thechamber 1450. The parasitic ground element 1457 is parasitically coupledto the monopole element 1455. In this embodiment, the WAN antenna 1452,including the monopole element 1455 and the parasitic ground element1457 are disposed above the section 1451 of the circuit board. Inanother embodiment, the WAN antenna 1452 can be disposed below on asecond side of the circuit board. A similar WAN antenna can be disposedin a chamber on an opposite side, as illustrated in FIG. 8. In otherembodiments, other WAN antennas can be disposed in other chambers of theMRMC network device. When current is applied to the WAN antenna 1452,the WAN antenna 1452 radiates electromagnetic energy. Because the WANantenna 1452 is disposed closer to the opening of the chamber 1450, theWAN antenna 1452 can be considered an omni-directional antenna. The WANantenna 1452 can be designed to operate in WAN frequency bands, asdescribed herein. In other embodiments, the WAN antenna 1452 can beother antenna types, such as a loop antenna, a yagi antenna, a monopoleantenna, a PIFA antenna, or the like.

In the depicted embodiment, the chamber 1450 also includes a dual-bandWLAN antenna 1454 disposed on the section 1451 of the circuit board 820of FIG. 8. A WLAN feed 1459 is disposed on an edge of the section 1451.The WLAN feed 1459 is coupled to a monopole element 1461. In someembodiments, a folded monopole element or a loop element can be usedinstead. In this embodiment, the WLAN antenna 1454 is disposed above thesection 1451 of the circuit board. In another embodiment, the WLANantenna 1454 can be disposed below on a second side of the circuitboard. A similar WLAN antenna can be disposed in a chamber on anopposite side, as illustrated in FIG. 8. In other embodiments, otherdual-band WLAN antennas can be disposed in other chambers of the MRMCnetwork device. For example, the dual-band WLAN antenna can be othertypes of antennas, such as helical coil antennas, loop antennas, yagiantennas, monopole antennas, PIFA antennas, or the like.

When current is applied to the WLAN antenna 1454, the WLAN antenna 1454radiates electromagnetic energy. Because the WLAN antenna 1454 isdisposed closer to the opening of the chamber 1450, the WLAN antenna1454 can be considered an omni-directional antenna. The WLAN antenna1454 can be designed to operate in WLAN frequency bands, such as the 2.4GHz band and the 5 GHz band as described herein.

In the depicted embodiment, the WAN antenna 1452 and the dual-band WLANantenna 1454 are printed on the section 1451 of the circuit board asprinted circuit board (PCB) type antennas. Alternatively, the WANantenna 1452 and the dual-band WLAN antenna 1454 can be implemented inother manners.

FIG. 15 illustrates a top view illustrating locations of the two WANantennas, eight pairs of directional antennas, and two dual-band WLANantennas on a circuit board of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8according to one embodiment. The circuit board 1502 is disposed withinthe housing of the MRMC network device of FIG. 8. A first WAN antenna1504 is disposed on a first section of the circuit board 1502 thatextents into one of the reflective chambers as described herein. Thefirst WAN antenna 1504 is disposed at or near an edge of the respectivesection of the circuit board 1502. In the same section is disposed afirst WLAN antenna 1508. Similarly, the first WLAN antenna 1508 isdisposed at or near an edge of the respective section. An opposingsection of the circuit board 1052 is disposed a second WAN antenna 1506and a second WLAN antenna 1510 at or near an edge of the respectivesection. The eight pairs of directional antennas 1512 are individualdisposed at respective sections of the circuit board. The eight pairs ofdirectional antennas 1512 may each be a pair of cross polarized dipoleantennas of FIG. 9, a pair of vertical polarized dipole antennas of FIG.10, a pair of cross polarized patch antennas of FIG. 11, or the like. Inaddition, a pair of antennas 1514 is disposed in an inner section of thecircuit board 1502. The pair of antennas 1514 may be the pair of coilantennas of FIG. 12 or the dual-feed, dual-polarized path antenna ofFIG. 13. It should be noted that the antennas of FIG. 15 can be disposedin other locations on the circuit board 1502. For example, the firstWLAN antenna 1508 and second WLAN antenna 1510 can be disposed on top ofthe MRMC network device, such as illustrated in FIG. 16.

FIG. 16 illustrates a dual-band WLAN antenna 1600 of the MRMC networkdevice at another location than within a chamber according to anotherembodiment. The dual-band WLAN antenna 1600 is disposed topside of theMRMC network device. In particular, the dual-band WLAN antenna 1600 isdisposed near an inner edge of the structure at the opening of the innerchamber 811 of the MRMC network device 800. The RF feed 1602 is coupledto an RF radio disposed on the circuit board that is disposed within thehousing. The dual-band WLAN antenna 1600 includes a monopole element1604 coupled to a RF feed 1602. The dual-band WLAN antenna 1600 alsoincludes a parasitic ground element 1606 that is parasitically coupledto the monopole element 1604. In the depicted embodiment, the parasiticelement 1606 is a T-monopole element. Alternatively, other types ofantennas may be used for the dual-band WLAN antenna 1600. Also, thelocations of the two dual-band WLAN antennas 1600 may be on or withinthe housing of the MRMC network device 800.

It should be noted that although the various embodiments of FIGS. 8-16illustrate and described a metal housing having eight sectors with eachof the eight sectors in the form of eight truncated pyramid structuresdisposed on their sides in a horizontal plane and adjacent to oneanother such that bases of the eight sectors form eight sides of anoctagonal prism for the metal housing. In other embodiments, othershapes of the metal housing may be achieved, such as a metal housinghaving a pentagon, hexagon, or other polyhedron shapes. For example, anouter frame shaped as a first polyhedron with at least two reflectivemetal surfaces may form an individual chamber. When disposed adjacent toone another or formed as a single frame, the collective chambers canform a second polyhedron. For example, the octagonal prism of FIG. 8 hasan outer frame with a first octagonal shape of reflective chambers, andthe reflective chambers form an inner chamber having a second octagonalshape. The first polyhedron and second polyhedron may have the sameshape, but the second polyhedron may be smaller in height, length,width, or any combination thereof. Similarly, the reflective chambersmay have fewer metal surfaces than five as in the reflective chambersillustrated. For example, the reflective chamber may include two or moremetal surfaces to direct the electromagnetic energy in certaindirections from the metal housing. Similarly, there may be more or lessof the pairs of the directional antennas, the dual-band WLAN antennas,the WAN antennas, as described above.

In another embodiment, a housing includes a first reflective chamber, asecond reflective chamber, a third reflective chamber, and a fourthreflective chamber, each of the first, second, third, and fourthreflective chambers including at least three metal surfaces within arecessed region at a side of the housing. The four antennas are disposedinside respective ones of the four reflective chambers. Four radios aredisposed on a circuit board and couple to the respective four antennas.The first radio is operable to cause the first antenna to radiateelectromagnetic energy in a first frequency range and the firstreflector chamber is operable to reflect the electromagnetic energy in afirst direction away from the housing. The second radio is operable tocause the second antenna to radiate electromagnetic energy in the firstfrequency range and the second reflector chamber is operable to reflectthe electromagnetic energy in a second direction away from the housing.The third radio is operable to cause the third antenna to radiateelectromagnetic energy in the first frequency range and the thirdreflector chamber is operable to reflect the electromagnetic energy in athird direction away from the housing. The fourth radio is operable tocause the fourth antenna to radiate electromagnetic energy in the firstfrequency range and the fourth reflector chamber is operable to reflectthe electromagnetic energy in a fourth direction away from the housing.

In a further embodiment, a fifth antenna and a sixth antenna aredisposed inside the first reflective chamber and the third reflectivechambers, respectively. Fifth and sixth radios on the circuit board areoperable to cause the fifth and sixth antennas, respectively, to radiateelectromagnetic energy in the first frequency range, or alternatively,in a second frequency ranges. These antennas and radios may be dual-bandWLAN technologies, such as the Wi-Fi®technology. These antennas mayinclude multiple elements, such as a monopole element and a parasiticground element, such as described herein. In a further embodiment,seventh and eighth antennas are disposed inside the first reflectivechamber and the third reflective chambers, respectively. A seventhradio, or a seventh and an eighth radio, is operable to cause theseventh and eighth antennas to radiate electromagnetic energy in a thirdfrequency range. These antennas and radios may be any WAN typetechnologies, such as the LTE, 3G, 2G, or the like. These antennas mayinclude multiple elements, such as a monopole element and a parasiticground element, such as described herein. The embodiments describedabove may be disposed in a square or rectangular shape prism with fourreflective chambers on the sides. In other embodiments, more than fourreflective chambers may be used, such as upper and lower chambers on thetop and bottom sides, as well as additional reflective chambers on thesides, such as to form a pentagonal prism, a hexagonal prism, theoctagonal prism, as described herein, or the like.

In a further embodiment, there may be additional antennas disposed inadditional chambers, such as an upper chamber at a top side of thehousing. For example, in one embodiment, a ninth antenna is disposed ina fifth chamber and selectively coupled to the first radio. The fifthchamber has a recessed region on a top side of the housing. The fifthchamber may be reflective as described herein. The first radio, whichmay be a 2×2 MIMO radio as described herein, may be operable to causethe ninth antenna to radiate electromagnetic energy in the firstfrequency range. A tenth antenna may be disposed in a sixth chamber andselectively coupled to the third radio. The sixth chamber has a recessedregion on a bottom side of the housing. The sixth chamber may bereflective as described herein. The third radio, which may also be a 2×2MIMO radio, may be operable to cause the tenth antenna to radiateelectromagnetic energy in the first frequency range. In a furtherembodiment, an eleventh antenna may be disposed in the fifth chamber andselectively coupled to one of the first radio, the second radio, thethird radio, or the fourth radio. The ninth antenna may be a verticalorientation antenna and the eleventh antenna may be a horizontalorientation antenna. In another embodiment, a twelfth antenna isdisposed in the sixth chamber and selectively coupled to one of thefirst radio, the second radio, the third radio, or the fourth radio. Thetenth antenna may be a vertical orientation antenna and the twelfthantenna may be a horizontal orientation antenna.

In a further embodiment, a thirteenth antenna is disposed inside thefirst reflective chamber and a fifth radio is disposed on the circuitboard and coupled to the thirteenth antenna. The fifth radio is operableto cause the thirteenth antenna to radiate electromagnetic energy in atleast one of the first frequency range or a second frequency range. Afourteenth antenna may be disposed inside the third reflective chamberand coupled to the fifth radio. The fifth radio is operable to cause thefourteenth antenna to radiate electromagnetic energy in at least one ofthe first frequency range or a second frequency range.

In a further embodiment, a fifteenth antenna is disposed inside thefirst reflective chamber and a sixth radio is disposed on the circuitboard and coupled to the fifteenth antenna. The sixth radio is operableto cause the fifteenth antenna to radiate electromagnetic energy in athird frequency range. A sixteenth antenna may be disposed inside thethird reflective chamber and coupled to the sixth radio. The sixth radiois operable to cause the sixteenth antenna to radiate electromagneticenergy in the third frequency range.

In one embodiment, the hexagonal prism may include, in addition to thefour or six chambers described above, a seventh reflective chamber andan eighth reflective chamber. In another embodiment, the octagonal prismmay include these chambers and ninth and tenth reflective chambers.Pairs of antennas, including a vertical orientation antenna and ahorizontal orientation antenna can be disposed within individual ones ofthese additional reflective chambers.

FIG. 17 is a block diagram of a network hardware device 1700 accordingto one embodiment. The network hardware device 1700 may correspond tothe network hardware device 102-110 of FIG. 1. In another embodiment,the network hardware device 1700 may correspond to the network hardwaredevices 202-210 in FIG. 2. In another embodiment, the network hardwaredevice 1700 may correspond to the mesh node 300 of FIG. 3.Alternatively, the network hardware device 1700 may be other electronicdevices, as described herein.

The network hardware device 1700 includes one or more processor(s) 1730,such as one or more CPUs, microcontrollers, field programmable gatearrays, or other types of processors. The network hardware device 1700also includes system memory 1706, which may correspond to anycombination of volatile and/or non-volatile storage mechanisms. Thesystem memory 1706 stores information that provides operating systemcomponent 1708, various program modules 1710, program data 1712, and/orother components. In one embodiment, the system memory 1706 storesinstructions of methods to control operation of the network hardwaredevice 1700. The network hardware device 1700 performs functions byusing the processor(s) 1730 to execute instructions provided by thesystem memory 1706.

The network hardware device 1700 also includes a data storage device1714 that may be composed of one or more types of removable storageand/or one or more types of non-removable storage. The data storagedevice 1714 includes a computer-readable storage medium 1716 on which isstored one or more sets of instructions embodying any of themethodologies or functions described herein. Instructions for theprogram modules 1710 may reside, completely or at least partially,within the computer-readable storage medium 1716, system memory 1706and/or within the processor(s) 1730 during execution thereof by thenetwork hardware device 1700, the system memory 1706 and theprocessor(s) 1730 also constituting computer-readable media. The networkhardware device 1700 may also include one or more input devices 1718(keyboard, mouse device, specialized selection keys, etc.) and one ormore output devices 1720 (displays, printers, audio output mechanisms,etc.).

The network hardware device 1700 further includes a modem 1722 to allowthe network hardware device 1700 to communicate via a wirelessconnections (e.g., such as provided by the wireless communicationsystem) with other computing devices, such as remote computers, an itemproviding system, and so forth. The modem 1722 can be connected to oneor more RF radios 1786 (also referred to as RF modules or RF chips). TheRF radios 1786 may be a WLAN radio, a WAN radio, PAN radio, GPS radio,or the like. The antenna structures (antenna(s) 1784, 1785, 1787) arecoupled to the RF circuitry 1783, which is coupled to the modem 1722.The RF circuitry 1783 may include radio front-end circuitry, antennaswitching circuitry (e.g., 424 of FIG. 4), impedance matching circuitry,or the like. The antennas 1784 may be GPS antennas, NFC antennas, otherWAN antennas, WLAN or PAN antennas, or the like. The modem 1722 allowsthe network hardware device 1700 to handle both voice and non-voicecommunications (such as communications for text messages, multimediamessages, media downloads, web browsing, etc.) with a wirelesscommunication system. The modem 1722 may provide network connectivityusing any type of mobile network technology including, for example,cellular digital packet data (CDPD), general packet radio service(GPRS), EDGE, universal mobile telecommunications system (UMTS), 1 timesradio transmission technology (1×RTT), evaluation data optimized (EVDO),high-speed down-link packet access (HSDPA), Wi-Fi®, Long Term Evolution(LTE) and LTE Advanced (sometimes generally referred to as 4G), etc.

The modem 1722 may generate signals and send these signals to antenna(s)1784 of a first type (e.g., WLAN 5 GHz), antenna(s) 1785 of a secondtype (e.g., WLAN 2.4 GHz), and/or antenna(s) 1787 of a third type (e.g.,WAN), via RF circuitry 1783, and RF radio(s) 1786 as descried herein.Antennas 1784, 1785, 1787 may be configured to transmit in differentfrequency bands and/or using different wireless communication protocols.The antennas 1784, 1785, 1787 may be directional, omnidirectional, ornon-directional antennas. In addition to sending data, antennas 1784,1785, 1787 may also receive data, which is sent to appropriate RF radiosconnected to the antennas. One of the antennas 1784, 1785, 1787 may beany combination of the antenna structures described herein.

In one embodiment, the network hardware device 1700 establishes a firstconnection using a first wireless communication protocol, and a secondconnection using a different wireless communication protocol. The firstwireless connection and second wireless connection may be activeconcurrently, for example, if a network hardware device is receiving amedia item from another network hardware device (e.g., a mini-POPdevice) via the first connection) and transferring a file to anotheruser device (e.g., via the second connection) at the same time.Alternatively, the two connections may be active concurrently duringwireless communications with multiple devices. In one embodiment, thefirst wireless connection is associated with a first resonant mode of anantenna structure that operates at a first frequency band and the secondwireless connection is associated with a second resonant mode of theantenna structure that operates at a second frequency band. In anotherembodiment, the first wireless connection is associated with a firstantenna structure and the second wireless connection is associated witha second antenna. In other embodiments, the first wireless connectionmay be associated with content distribution within mesh nodes of the WMNand the second wireless connection may be associated with serving acontent file to a client consumption device, as described herein.

Though a modem 1722 is shown to control transmission and reception viaantenna (1784, 1785, 1787), the network hardware device 1700 mayalternatively include multiple modems, each of which is configured totransmit/receive data via a different antenna and/or wirelesstransmission protocol.

In the above description, numerous details are set forth. It will beapparent, however, to one of ordinary skill in the art having thebenefit of this disclosure, that embodiments may be practiced withoutthese specific details. In some instances, well-known structures anddevices are shown in block diagram form, rather than in detail, in orderto avoid obscuring the description.

Some portions of the detailed description are presented in terms ofalgorithms and symbolic representations of operations on data bitswithin a computer memory. These algorithmic descriptions andrepresentations are the means used by those skilled in the dataprocessing arts to most effectively convey the substance of their workto others skilled in the art. An algorithm is here, and generally,conceived to be a self-consistent sequence of steps leading to a desiredresult. The steps are those requiring physical manipulations of physicalquantities. Usually, though not necessarily, these quantities take theform of electrical or magnetic signals capable of being stored,transferred, combined, compared, and otherwise manipulated. It hasproven convenient at times, principally for reasons of common usage, torefer to these signals as bits, values, elements, symbols, characters,terms, numbers or the like.

It should be borne in mind, however, that all of these and similar termsare to be associated with the appropriate physical quantities and aremerely convenient labels applied to these quantities. Unlessspecifically stated otherwise as apparent from the above discussion, itis appreciated that throughout the description, discussions utilizingterms such as “inducing,” “parasitically inducing,” “radiating,”“detecting,” determining,” “generating,” “communicating,” “receiving,”“disabling,” or the like, refer to the actions and processes of acomputer system, or similar electronic computing device, thatmanipulates and transforms data represented as physical (e.g.,electronic) quantities within the computer system's registers andmemories into other data similarly represented as physical quantitieswithin the computer system memories or registers or other suchinformation storage, transmission or display devices.

Embodiments also relate to an apparatus for performing the operationsherein. This apparatus may be specially constructed for the requiredpurposes, or it may comprise a general-purpose computer selectivelyactivated or reconfigured by a computer program stored in the computer.Such a computer program may be stored in a computer readable storagemedium, such as, but not limited to, any type of disk including floppydisks, optical disks, CD-ROMs and magnetic-optical disks, read-onlymemories (ROMs), random access memories (RAMs), EPROMs, EEPROMs,magnetic or optical cards, or any type of media suitable for storingelectronic instructions.

The algorithms and displays presented herein are not inherently relatedto any particular computer or other apparatus. Various general-purposesystems may be used with programs in accordance with the teachingsherein, or it may prove convenient to construct a more specializedapparatus to perform the required method steps. The required structurefor a variety of these systems will appear from the description below.In addition, the present embodiments are not described with reference toany particular programming language. It will be appreciated that avariety of programming languages may be used to implement the teachingsof the present invention as described herein. It should also be notedthat the terms “when” or the phrase “in response to,” as used herein,should be understood to indicate that there may be intervening time,intervening events, or both before the identified operation isperformed.

It is to be understood that the above description is intended to beillustrative, and not restrictive. Many other embodiments will beapparent to those of skill in the art upon reading and understanding theabove description. The scope of the present embodiments should,therefore, be determined with reference to the appended claims, alongwith the full scope of equivalents to which such claims are entitled.

What is claimed is:
 1. A device comprising: a first radio; a secondradio; a third radio; a fourth radio; and a processing device coupled tothe first radio, the second radio, the third radio, and the fourthradio, wherein the processing device is to: communicate, using the firstradio, first data with a second device via a first wireless link betweenthe device and the second device; communicate, using the second radio,second data with a third device via a second wireless link between thedevice and the third device; communicate, using the third radio, thirddata with a fourth device via a third wireless link between the deviceand the fourth device; and communicate, using the fourth radio, fourthdata with a server of a content delivery network (CDN) via apoint-to-point wireless link between the device and the server, whereinthe device is an only ingress point for content files for a mesh networkcomprising at least the device, the second device, and the third device.2. The device of claim 1, wherein: the first radio establishes a firstpeer-to-peer (P2P) channel in a 5 GHz frequency band for communicatingthe first data with the second device; the second radio establishes asecond P2P channel in the 5 GHz frequency band for communicating thesecond data with the third device; the third radio establishes anode-to-client (N2C) channel in a 2.4 GHz frequency band forcommunicating the third data with the fourth device; and the fourthradio establishes a microwave communication channel of thepoint-to-point wireless link for communicating the fourth data with theserver.
 3. The device of claim 2, further comprising a storage device,and wherein the processing device is to: receive a first request for acontent file directly from the fourth device via the N2C channel;determine that the content file is not stored in the storage device;send a second request for the content file to the second device via thefirst P2P channel responsive to a determination that the content file isnot stored in the storage device; send a third request for the contentfile to the third device via the second P2P channel responsive to adetermination that the content file is not stored in the storage device;receive the content file from the second device via the first P2Pchannel in response to the second request; and send the content file tothe fourth device via the N2C channel.
 4. The device of claim 3,wherein: the third radio establishes a second N2C channel in the 2.4 GHzfrequency band for communicating fifth data with a fifth device; and theprocessing device is further to: store a copy of the content file in thestorage device; receive a fourth request for the content file directlyfrom the fifth device via the second N2C channel; determine that thecontent file is stored in the storage device; and send the content fileto the fifth device via the second N2C channel.
 5. The device of claim2, wherein the processing device is further to: receive a first requestfor a content file directly from the fourth device via the N2C channel;determine that the content file is not stored in the mesh network;generate and send a notification to an operate of the mesh network, thenotification comprising information to indicate that the content filehas been requested by the fourth device; and generate and send a messageto the fourth device via the N2C channel, the message comprisinginformation to indicate an estimated delay for the content file to beavailable for delivery.
 6. The device of claim 1, further comprising acellular radio coupled to the processing device, wherein the processingdevice is further to communicate, using the cellular radio, control datawith a fifth device via a cellular link between the device and the fifthdevice.
 7. The device of claim 6, wherein the fifth device is a serverof an Internet Service Provider (ISP), and wherein the processing devicecommunicates the control data with a mesh network control service (MNCS)via the fifth device, the MNCS being executed on a remote serveraccessible via the Internet.
 8. The device of claim 1, wherein theprocessing device is configured to operate with backhaul functionalityfor a network backbone of the mesh network, the network backbone beingformed by at least the first wireless link and the second wireless link,and wherein the processing device is configured to operate with accesspoint (AP) functionality for at least the fourth device.
 9. A networkdevice comprising: a first radio that operates in a 5 GHz frequencyband; a second radio that operates in the 5 GHz frequency band; a thirdradio that operates in a 2.4 GHz frequency band; a fourth radio thatoperates in a microwave frequency band; a processing device coupled tothe first radio, the second radio, the third radio, and the fourthradio, wherein the processing device is to: communicate, using the firstradio, first data with a second device via a first wireless link betweenthe network device and the second device; communicate, using the secondradio, second data with a third device via a second wireless linkbetween the network device and the third device; communicate, using thethird radio, third data with a fourth device via a third wireless linkbetween the network device and the fourth device; and communicate, usingthe fourth radio, fourth data with a server of a content deliverynetwork (CDN) via a point-to-point wireless link between the networkdevice and the server, wherein the network device is an only ingresspoint for content files for a mesh network comprising at least thenetwork device, the second device, and the third device.
 10. The networkdevice of claim 9, wherein: the first radio establishes a firstpeer-to-peer (P2P) channel in the 5 GHz frequency band for communicatingthe first data with the second device; the second radio establishes asecond P2P channel in the 5 GHz frequency band for communicating thesecond data with the third device; the third radio establishes anode-to-client (N2C) channel in a 2.4 GHz frequency band forcommunicating the third data with the fourth device; and the fourthradio establishes a microwave communication channel in the microwavefrequency band for communicating the fourth data with the server. 11.The network device of claim 10, further comprising a storage device, andwherein the processing device is to: receive a first request for acontent file directly from the fourth device via the N2C channel;determine that the content file is not stored in the storage device;send a second request for the content file to the second device via thefirst P2P channel responsive to a determination that the content file isnot stored in the storage device; send a third request for the contentfile to the third device via the second P2P channel responsive to adetermination that the content file is not stored in the storage device;receive the content file from the second device via the first P2Pchannel in response to the second request; and send the content file tothe fourth device via the N2C channel.
 12. The network device of claim11, wherein: the third radio establishes a second N2C channel in the 2.4GHz frequency band for communicating fifth data with a fifth device; andthe processing device is further to: store a copy of the content file inthe storage device; receive a fourth request for the content filedirectly from the fifth device via the second N2C channel; determinethat the content file is stored in the storage device; and send thecontent file to the fifth device via the second N2C channel.
 13. Thenetwork device of claim 10, wherein the processing device is further to:receive a first request for a content file directly from the fourthdevice via the N2C channel; determine that the content file is notstored in the mesh network; generate and send a notification to anoperate of the mesh network, the notification comprising information toindicate that the content file has been requested by the fourth device;and generate and send a message to the fourth device via the N2Cchannel, the message comprising information to indicate an estimateddelay for the content file to be available for delivery.
 14. The networkdevice of claim 9, further comprising a cellular radio coupled to theprocessing device, wherein the processing device is further tocommunicate, using the cellular radio, control data with a fifth devicevia a cellular link between the network device and the fifth device. 15.The network device of claim 14, wherein the fifth device is a server ofan Internet Service Provider (ISP), and wherein the processing devicecommunicates the control data with a mesh network control service (MNCS)via the fifth device, the MNCS being executed on a remote serveraccessible via the Internet.
 16. The network device of claim 9, whereinthe processing device is configured to operate with backhaulfunctionality for a network backbone of the mesh network, the networkbackbone being formed by at least the first wireless link and the secondwireless link, and wherein the processing device is configured tooperate with access point (AP) functionality for at least the fourthdevice.
 17. A method comprising: establishing, by a device, a firstwireless link between the device and a second device via a first radio;establishing, by the device, a second wireless link between the deviceand a third device via a second radio; establishing, by the device, athird wireless link between the device and a fourth device via a thirdradio; establishing, by the device, a point-to-point wireless linkbetween the device and a server of a content delivery network (CDN),wherein the device is an only ingress point for content files for a meshnetwork comprising at least the device, the second device, and the thirddevice; communicating, by the device, first data with the second devicevia the first wireless link; communicating, by the device, second datawith the third device via the second wireless link; communicating, bythe device, third data with the fourth device via the third wirelesslink; and communicating, by the device, fourth data with the server viathe point-to-point wireless link.
 18. The method of claim 17, furthercomprising: establishing, by the device, a first peer-to-peer (P2P)channel in a 5 GHz frequency band for communicating the first data withthe second device; establishing, by the device, a second P2P channel inthe 5 GHz frequency band for communicating the second data with thethird device; establishing, by the device, a node-to-client (N2C)channel in a 2.4 GHz frequency band for communicating the third datawith the fourth device; and establishing, by the device, a microwavecommunication channel of the point-to-point wireless link forcommunicating the fourth data with the server.
 19. The method of claim18, further comprising: receiving, by the device, a first request for acontent file directly from the fourth device via the N2C channel;determining, by the device, that the content file is not stored in astorage device of the device; sending, by the device, a second requestfor the content file to the second device via the first P2P channelresponsive to a determination that the content file is not stored in thestorage device; sending, by the device, a third request for the contentfile to the third device via the second P2P channel responsive to adetermination that the content file is not stored in the storage device;receiving, by the device, the content file from the second device viathe first P2P channel in response to the second request; and sending, bythe device, the content file to the fourth device via the N2C channel.20. The method of claim 19, further comprising: establishing, by thedevice, a second N2C channel in the 2.4 GHz frequency band forcommunicating fifth data with a fifth device; storing, by the device, acopy of the content file in the storage device; establishing, by thedevice, receive a fourth request for the content file directly from thefifth device via the second N2C channel; determining, by the device,that the content file is stored in the storage device; and sending, bythe device, the content file to the fifth device via the second N2Cchannel.